I. |intə, -n.tu̇, -n-(ˌ)tü, +V often -ntəw preposition
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English intō, from in (II) + tō to
1.
a. — used as a function word primarily denoting motion so directed as to terminate, if continued, when the position denoted by in has been reached and usually after a verb that carries the idea of motion or a word implying or suggesting motion or passage to indicate a place or thing entered or penetrated or enterable or penetrable by or as if by a movement from the outside to an interior part
came into the house
the river ran into the sea
traveled into the next state
a route into the wilderness
imports into this country
the mountains merge into the plain
brought into membership in the club
off we go into the wide blue yonder
but sometimes in constructions in which the idea of motion is carried by the very use of into in preference to in
among the first into the field — New York Herald Tribune
they were into their clothes and on deck — H.A.Chippendale
the child was into the cookie jar as soon as no one was looking
stores them away into an inner pocket — A.J.Coutts
baptized into the Catholic Church
b. : in toward
sailed the boat into the pier
the batter leaned into the pitch
it stood close into a fine cottonwood grove — Willa Cather
keeping well into the foot or lower slopes of the scarpside — S.G.Joseph
2. chiefly Scotland : in 1a(1)
living into his new house
3.
a. — used as a function word indicating a state or condition assumed, brought into being (as by force), or allowed to come about
enter into bliss
drive someone into despair
fall into decay
land brought into cultivation
collapses into hysterics and quits — H.F. & Katharine Pringle
b. — used as a function word that usually follows words carrying an idea of alteration or suggesting or implying alteration and that indicates a form or condition assumed often with loss of original or essential identity and emergence as something else
came into being
develop into a butterfly
compounds resolved into simple substances
translate a book into French
divide a hospital into several wards
fold a paper into four
the barn was remodeled into a garage
the land was plowed into broad ridges and hollows — L.D.Stamp
the book went into edition after edition
divide the theme into a beginning, a middle, and an ending
4. — used as a function word to indicate something accepted or acquired (as for possession)
talked himself into a good job
came into an inheritance
5.
a.
(1) obsolete : to , toward
(2) : toward and as far as (something considered central)
go into town
go into market
b. : in the direction of
looking into the sun
looked into his plate and said nothing
turned into the wind
c. : up to : as far as
since then — right into today — you and I have enjoyed … the economic idea of roaring production — Sylvia F. Porter
d. : against 2a
run into a wall
fell into a fence
the mixture is run into an endless moving wire screen — American Guide Series: Louisiana
6.
a. — used as a function word to indicate the dividend in mathematical division
dividing 3 into 6 gives 2
b. archaic : by : together with — used with multiply
7. — used as a function word to indicate a set of circumstances, a function, action, or occupation entered upon or taken on
get into trouble
go into business
force into compliance
might be tortured into divulging military information — G.A.Craig
8.
a. — used as a function word indicating something in which a literal or figurative insertion or introduction is made or in which there is inclusion
pushed the hose into the pipe
read a new meaning into a sentence
water enters into the composition of the human body
marry into an influential family
introduced a bill into the legislature
play a song into a microphone
soon got into the act
b. — used as a function word to indicate something penetrated by the sight or insight or by an intellectual process (as investigation, reflection, or analysis)
peer into the distance
look into the future
search into his motives
inquire into his activities
insights into religion and poetry
seek to look … into the hopes and fears of men and women — F.D.Roosevelt
c. : so as to impress, dent, or force inward
pressed the marble into the palm of his hand
force the grease into the bearings
d. — used as a function word to indicate something slowed or stopped in its course or impeded by interruption
into the path of a train
stepped into a punch on the jaw
butt into their conversation
e. : so as to permeate or fill
gases expanding into a vacuum — S.F.Mason
f. : in direct connection or contact with
I am into a heavy fish … have already taken a twelve-inch bass on the same plug — Paul Brooks
9. — used as a function word indicating a period of time or an extent of space of which a portion is used or occupied
sang far into the night
went some distance into the next month before paying the bill
stretched into the distance
10. — used as a function word to indicate something contributed to, paid, received in exchange, or dealt with by handling in some way
all the sugar we had went into the cake
his pay check went into the rent
their spare cash went into some new furniture
all their brain power went into solving the problem
11. : so as to include
the company then expanded into bakery machines and specialized sewing machines — Time
II. preposition
: involved with or interested in
her two children … are both into art — New York