into

[ in-too; unstressed in-too, -tuh ]

preposition

1. to the inside of; in toward:

   He walked into the room. The train chugged into the station.

2. toward or in the direction of:

   going into town.

3. to a point of contact with; against:

   backed into a parked car.

4. (used to indicate insertion or immersion in):

   plugged into the socket.

5. (used to indicate entry, inclusion, or introduction in a place or condition):

   received into the church.

6. to the state, condition, or form assumed or brought about:

   went into shock; lapsed into disrepair; translated into another language.

7. to the occupation, action, possession, circumstance, or acceptance of:

   went into banking; coerced into complying.

8. (used to indicate a continuing extent in time or space):

   lasted into the night; far into the distance.

9. (used to indicate the number to be divided by another number):

   2 into 20 equals 10.

10. Informal. interested or absorbed in, especially obsessively:

    She's into yoga and gardening.

11. Slang. in debt to:

    I'm into him for ten dollars.

adjective

1. Mathematics. pertaining to a function or map from one set to another set, the range of which is a proper subset of the second set, as the function f, from the set of all integers into the set of all perfect squares where f ( x ) = x 2 for every integer.

into

/ ˈɪntuː; ˈɪntə /

preposition

1. to the interior or inner parts of

   to look into a case

2. to the middle or midst of so as to be surrounded by

   into the bushes

   into the water

3. against; up against

   he drove into a wall

4. used to indicate the result of a transformation or change

   he changed into a monster

5. maths used to indicate a dividend

   three into six is two

6. informal.
   interested or enthusiastically involved in

   I'm really into Freud these days

Word History and Origins

Origin of into¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English; in + to

Idioms and Phrases

• be into

Example Sentences

The model predicts that seabirds will divide the waters around a colony into different circular zones, with each species using its own zone to fish in.

From Science Daily

When the electrical signal reaches the end of one nerve cell it is converted into a biochemical signal, in the form of calcium.

From Science Daily

This biochemical signal is received by the next nerve cell, that converts the signal back into electricity.

From Science Daily

These channels are like molecular machines that sense electrical signals and then open to allow calcium to flow into the nerve cell.

From Science Daily

Such drugs exist, but there is a catch: a drug that blocks CaV2.2 completely has such severe side-effects that it needs to be given directly into the spinal fluid.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• in the direction of