Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If something is ~ a place, area, or object, it is inside it or surrounded by it. (FORMAL)
Clients are entertained ~ private dining rooms...
...a 1987 agreement which would recognise Quebec as a distinct society ~ Canada.
? outside
PREP
•
Within is also an adverb.
A small voice called from ~. ‘Yes, just coming.’
ADV: usu from ADV, also ADV after v
2.
Something that happens or exists ~ a society, organization, or system, happens or exists inside it.
...the spirit of self-sacrifice ~ an army...
Within criminal law almost anything could be defined as ‘crime’.
= in
PREP
•
Within is also an adverb.
The Church of England, with threats of split from ~, has still to make up its mind.
ADV: usu from ADV, also ADV after v
3.
If you experience a particular feeling, you can say that it is ~ you. (LITERARY)
He’s coping much better ~ himself...
= in
PREP: PREP pron
4.
If something is ~ a particular limit or set of rules, it does not go beyond it or is not more than what is allowed.
Troops have agreed to stay ~ specific boundaries to avoid confrontations...
Exercise ~ your comfortable limit...
PREP
5.
If you are ~ a particular distance of a place, you are less than that distance from it.
The man was ~ a few feet of him...
It was ~ easy walking distance of the hotel...
PREP
6.
Within a particular length of time means before that length of time has passed.
About 40% of all students entering as freshmen graduate ~ 4 years...
Within 24 hours the deal was completed.
PREP: PREP amount
7.
If something is ~ sight, ~ earshot, or ~ reach, you can see it, hear it, or reach it.
His twenty-five-foot boat was moored ~ sight of West Church.
...her heels clicking on the tiled floor, probably an irritating noise to other people ~ earshot...
? out of
PREP
8.
~ reason: see reason