Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
In \In\, prep. [AS. in; akin to D. & G. in, Icel. [=i], Sw. & Dan. i, OIr. & L. in, Gr. 'en. [root]197. Cf. 1st In-, Inn.] The specific signification of in is situation or place with respect to surrounding, environment, encompassment, etc. It is used with verbs signifying being, resting, or moving within limits, or within circumstances or conditions of any kind conceived of as limiting, confining, or investing, either wholly or in part. In its different applications, it approaches some of the meanings of, and sometimes is interchangeable with, within, into, on, at, of, and among. It is used:
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With reference to space or place; as, he lives in Boston; he traveled in Italy; castles in the air.
The babe lying in a manger.
--Luke ii. 16.Thy sun sets weeping in the lowly west.
--Shak.Situated in the forty-first degree of latitude.
--Gibbon.Matter for censure in every page.
--Macaulay. -
With reference to circumstances or conditions; as, he is in difficulties; she stood in a blaze of light. ``Fettered in amorous chains.''
--Shak.Wrapt in sweet sounds, as in bright veils.
--Shelley. -
With reference to a whole which includes or comprises the part spoken of; as, the first in his family; the first regiment in the army.
Nine in ten of those who enter the ministry.
--Swift. -
With reference to physical surrounding, personal states, etc., abstractly denoted; as, I am in doubt; the room is in darkness; to live in fear.
When shall we three meet again, In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
--Shak. -
With reference to character, reach, scope, or influence considered as establishing a limitation; as, to be in one's favor. ``In sight of God's high throne.''
--Milton.Sounds inharmonious in themselves, and harsh.
--Cowper. -
With reference to movement or tendency toward a certain limit or environment; -- sometimes equivalent to into; as, to put seed in the ground; to fall in love; to end in death; to put our trust in God.
He would not plunge his brother in despair.
--Addison.She had no jewels to deposit in their caskets.
--Fielding. -
With reference to a limit of time; as, in an hour; it happened in the last century; in all my life. In as much as, or Inasmuch as, in the degree that; in like manner as; in consideration that; because that; since. See Synonym of Because, and cf. For as much as, under For, prep. In that, because; for the reason that. ``Some things they do in that they are men . . .; some things in that they are men misled and blinded with error.'' --Hooker. In the name of, in behalf of; on the part of; by authority; as, it was done in the name of the people; -- often used in invocation, swearing, praying, and the like. To be in for it.
To be in favor of a thing; to be committed to a course.
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To be unable to escape from a danger, penalty, etc. To be in with or To keep in with.
To be close or near; as, to keep a ship in with the land.
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To be on terms of friendship, familiarity, or intimacy with; to secure and retain the favor of. [Colloq.]
Syn: Into; within; on; at. See At.
Wiktionary
conj. 1 because of the fact that; since 2 to the extent that; insofar as
Usage examples of "inasmuch as".
Moreover, the bad will, though it be not in harmony with, but opposed to nature, inasmuch as it is a vice or blemish, yet it is true of it as of all vice, that it cannot exist except in a nature, and only in a nature created out of nothing, and not in that which the Creator has begotten of Himself, as He begot the Word, by whom all things were made.
If you mean speculation, sir, said Stephen, I also am sure that there is no such thing as free thinking inasmuch as all thinking must be bound by its own laws.
Human Events has been my longtime home and, inasmuch as it is run by men like Tom Winter and Terry Jeffrey, published me when no one else would.
As for Max's crossing by the same means, however, I doubted his willingness to, inasmuch as he thought her a flunkè.
The Kurds and Iranians would be surprised to hear that inasmuch as Saddam Hussein had already used his weapons of mass destruction on them.
Actually we are up to nothing, are merely in the process of burning out over the problem of trying to figure out what other people are up to, inasmuch as their various behaviors are becoming more and more perplexing.
It also would have been moronic inasmuch as state judges have absolutely nothing to say about the country’.
I felt that he was rather running the thing into the ground, for he had an easy rack, which would have made it much more comfortable for both of us, and inasmuch as I knew that I was safe as long as I was under Ga-va-go's protection, I made up my mind to teach the fellow a lesson, which I finally did, although almost as much to my discomfort as his, by making no effort to ease myself upon his back so that at every step I rose high and came down hard upon him, sitting as far back as possible so as to pound his kidneys painfully.