Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. enjoying sexual intercourse.

1715		‘Nickydemus Ninnyhammer’ Homer in a nut-shell 30: For Shame, my Lad, now you are well in, / How can you tamely yield up Helen?
1779		Nocturnal Revels 2 212: ‘Well (said his Grace) [...] I can’t find it [i.e. a joke] out’ ‘No my Lord (splied she) and what is worse — I could not find it in’.
1955		E. Hoagland Cat Man 156: ‘You can’t marry a whore!’ ‘I’ll marry anybody I feel like it! [...]’ ‘But she’s a whore! We was all in her’.
1970		G. Cain Blueschild Baby 123: Got my pants down and jissom shooting everywhere, force her legs apart and I’m in, driving for all my worth.

2. in pawn.

1796		Sporting Mag. Aug. VIII 253/1: I pledge my word (which, in truth, is the only thing I have to pop, all the rest being in.).
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 21 Feb. 12/2: They clubbed together for the ‘tin,’ / Though sorely put about; / The fact is – that dress coat is ‘in,’ / And they must get it out.

3. (UK Und.) being part of a closed or influential group, often through the payment of bribes, wielding of influence etc; occas. also as prep., e.g. in the group.

1808		B. Bradshaw Hist. of Billy Bradshaw 10: The feeing constables, patroles, watchmen, and runners of the magistrates, who are all in and row in the same boat with us.
1841		W.L. Rede Sixteen String Jack I v: Now comes the grand spec; we go to crack a ken; Kit’s in, so’s the captain.
1862		‘Artemus Ward’ Artemus Ward, His Book 72: Jes say rite strate out what you’re drivin at. If you mean gettin hitched, I’m in!
1897		A.H. Lewis Wolfville 52: She allows with sobs if her dear friend Annie’s goin’ to get married she wants in on the game as bridesmaid.
1901		D. Cotsford Society Snapshots 82: I hope you got ‘in’ with the right set.
1908		B. Fisher A. Mutt in Blackbeard Compilation (1977) 44: Atty. Hash is now more confident than ever that Tobasco has the judge already ‘in.’.
1911		G. Bronson-Howard Enemy to Society 203: Have the richest ones, though — and their wives. Especially [...] if they are very rich and aren’t in — you know — haven’t been taken up.
1919		Wodehouse ‘Leave It to Jeeves’ in My Man Jeeves [ebook] [M]y cousin Gussie, who was in with a lot of people down Washington Square way.
1924		G. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 294: If he is ‘in right’ with certain authorities a bootlegger may operate for months before he is ‘knocked over’.
1933		Ersine Und. and Prison Sl. 16: be, v. (in). 1. To be a member of a gang.
1948		H. McCoy Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye in Four Novels (1983) 165: Answer the question. Are you in or out?
1959		E. De Roo Go, Man, Go! 25: ‘Will I be in the Speeds?’ ‘Kid, if you wanna live up to the oath — you’re in.’.
1966		J. Mills Panic in Needle Park (1971) 198: You got to know The Man and if you do you’re in. And Frankie is in.
1979		H. Feldman et al. Angel Dust 80: These essential behaviours serve as models [...] against which each ‘in’ person is judged.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 72: She was shallow too, a user, a trendy, someone who wanted to be in with the right people.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 12: Guys were making fortunes so everybody wanted in.
2011		F. Bill ‘Rabbit in the Lettuce Patch’ in Crimes in Southern Indiana [ebook] ‘I’m in, I’m in. Just ain’t never took no person’s life is all’.
2012		A. Nette ‘Chasing Atlantis’ in Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] What do you reckon? You in?
2022		A. Parks May God Forgive 344: ‘Do something like that and I was in.’ ‘In?’ asked McCoy. ‘In with the bad boys’.
2024		C. Stella Joey Piss Pot 171: ‘You want in, eh? [...] Become one of us, a wisea’guy’.

4. in prison.

1826		Pierce Egan’s Life in London 19 Nov. 758/2: ‘[W]hen they tuck me to the Compter, didn’t I keep axing everybody what I was in for’.
1830		J.B. Skillman N.Y. Police Reports 97: Mr. S , Gent., walked off, between sun-set and sun-rise, with two coats — not his own coats. Is walked in.
1839		(con. 1715) W.H. Ainsworth Jack Sheppard (1917) 119: What’s this here kinchen in for?
1867		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 14 Sept. n.p.: Bill Mortimer (in for attempting to ‘croake’ officer Williams’.
1877		Five Years’ Penal Servitude 147: It is the etiquette among prisoners never to ask a man what he is ‘in for.’.
1896		A. Morrison Child of the Jago (1982) 164: She had worked before; not only when Josh had been ‘in’.
1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 16 Aug. 25/1: Then one month’s confinement to the ‘Silvertail’ man, who is generally hypersensitive, equals six months to the ordinary criminal who, even if he is a ‘first-timer’ here has probably been ‘in’ somewhere else.
1916		T. Burke Limehouse Nights 278: He’d been ‘in’ five times for small jobs.
1924		S. Scott Human Side of Crook and Convict Life 25: Used to be me likeness in every b—— noospaper in the b—— country when I went in.
1937		‘Boxcar Bertha’ Sister of the Road (1975) 93: Welcome to our hotel. What are you in for?
1947		N. Algren Neon Wilderness (1986) 29: You’re going to be in so long this time you’ll think you’re the warden.
1957		G. Kersh Fowlers End (2001) 213: ‘Been in long?’ he asked. I said: ‘I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to. In? In where?’.
1972		P. Fordham Inside the Und. 49: What do you think I’m in for?
1981		A. Weller Day of the Dog 8: I got you out of all sort of shit, ’fore I went in.
1995		J. Cameron Vinnie Got Blown Away 23: So I went what was he in for, like you do, make sure you never get banged up with the nonces.
1996		P. Beatty White Boy Shuffle 25: What you in for, young buck?
2000		Time 31 Jan. 8: As the guests file into the booking area, an officer types insistently into a computer and barks, ‘What are you in for?’.
2014		E. Hagelstein ‘Our lady of mercy’ in ThugLit Mar. [ebook] ‘What’s he in for?’ [...] ‘Bad checks or something’.
2023		Rayman & Blau Riker’s 182: I had like three, almost four years in.

5. in season.

1861

(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 460/2: The probable time when cherries would be ‘in’ and cheap.

6. in fashion.

1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor III 73/1: We [...] used to give twenty-one shillings of it for a one-pound note; for they was in then.
1890		Bulletin (Sydney) 9 Aug. 8/3: But one or two fearsomely baggy old-fashioned ‘Greek’ garments, only tolerable when they were ‘in,’ suggested all manner of things.
1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 27 Dec. 12/4: Feeding-bottles have hitherto been banished from fashionable circles, but with the craze for adopted infants, ‘bottles are in.’.
1920		S. Lewis Main Street (1921) 86: It was the country club, the diplomatic set [...] To belong to it was to be ‘in’.
1964		Mersey Beat 30 Jan.–13 Feb. n.p.: After hearing The Beatles for the first time last summer [...] They are at last ‘in’ with our Southern Californians.
1977		C. McFadden Serial 87: Getting it on with younger men was definitely in these days.
1979		Lette & Carey Puberty Blues 97: A joint was like a bar of gold. It was ‘in’, it was illegal and none of the nurds at school smoked it.
1999		Observer Escape 4 July 3: A SoHo brasserie, which is apparently very ‘in’ this season.
2001		(con. 1964–8) J. Ellroy Cold Six Thousand 100: She said the Twist was out. She said the go-go beat was in.

7. (US Und.) being a member of a confidence trick team, or, as a ‘civilian’, aware and tolerant of their activity.

1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 28 Feb. 7/3: Why, old man, whether I come back or not, it’s the biggest patch I ever struck since the morning that d— French sentry made me (you were in the ‘swindle’ too, though you managed to get off clear) plank down the swag I was shunting from the palace at Canton. I did five years for that job.
1937		(con. 1905–25) E.H. Sutherland Professional Thief (1956) 68: Some years back the duke was called ‘the big mitt.’ It was played successfully on railway trains and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the conductor was ‘in’.
1954		(con. 1943) C. Chessman Cell 2455 251: He was ‘in’ too solid to bluff.

8. involved in, party to, tolerant of.

1900		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 6 Oct. 11/1: McCoy and those who were ‘in’ on the game [i.e. a fixed bet] were to bet that Green would go the limit.
1934		L. Berg Prison Nurse (1964) 28: You’re in this up to your neck. You’re standing for it.
1953		‘John Eagle’ Hoodlums (2021) 40: ‘Kirk, are you in?’ [i.e. on a robbery].
1967		J. Wynnum I’m a Jack, All Right 15: Wouldn’t mind being in this myself — but I can’t be in two places at once.
1999		P. Temple Black Tide (2012) [ebook] Bitch wanted Frank done. In it over her tits.
2018		G. Disher Kill Shot [ebook] ‘Mate, whatever’s going on, I want in’.
2020		S.A. Crosby Blacktop Wasteland 64: ‘You in or you out? I mean if you don’t want $80,000 I can always get somebody else’.

9. guaranteed of success in a given project, e.g. sexual seduction.

1907		B. Fisher A. Mutt in Blackbeard Compilation (1977) 3: S-h-h-h. Not a woid. This one’s ‘in’. You take this 1000 bucks and put 500 on Serenity.
1910		B. Fisher Mutt & Jeff 22 Nov. [synd. strip] Say Mutt, I’m, in right! I met a swell dame [and] she’s dead stuck on me.
1927		R. Lardner ‘Hurry Kane’ in Coll. Short Stories (1941) 103: They wasn’t nobody on our club [...] who didn’t feel perfectly confident that we were ‘in.’.
1930		W.R. Burnett Iron Man 133: ‘Well, Mac [...] what do you think?’ ‘I think Coke’s in.’.
1947		E. Condon We Called It Music 156: When it was over we stood around trying to realize what we had done. ‘You’re in,’ McKenzie said .
1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 217: We were in. I could see it in the paddies’ eyes.
1977		C. Hope Ducktails in Gray Theatre Two (1981) 44: Hell, I fancy that dark-haired goosey. [...] D’you check the way she sort of looked at me? I think I’m in there.
1983		A. Payne ‘Senior Citizen Caine’ Minder [TV script] 27: I think I might be in there.
1998		(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 61: All right, he thought. I’m in.
2000		N. Barlay Crumple Zone 105: What an ape. Eyeing you up. I think you’re in there.
2014		D.B. Flowers Bangs 258: Debbie laughed, and Joey knew he was in.
2017		A. Parks Bloody January 236: ‘She called me over [...] she was laughing at my jokes, kept holding my arm. [...] I thought I was in there’.

10. partaking in a game, e.g. of cards or pool.

1916		T.A. Dorgan in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 17: I’m in again — I got another berry — I just put the bee on the stenog for an ace.
1924		P. Marks Plastic Age 231: Big poker party to-night. Don’t you want to sit in?
1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 93: ‘How ’bout a nice sociable game of nine ball?’ [...] ‘I’m in.’.
1999		E. Bunker Mr Blue 51: [He] plopped down two decks of Bee playing cards. [...] ‘You in?’ D’Arcy asked Cicerone.

11. socially acceptable.

1917		R. Lardner ‘The Water Cure’ in Gullible’s Travels 170: When my Missus can overlook a guy stingin’ me for legal tender, it means he’s in pretty strong with her.
1940		J.H. O’Hara Pal Joey 9: You think all you have to do is mention my name and you are in.
1949		(con. 1943–5) A. Murphy To Hell and Back (1950) 79: She says you are most generous. Many thanks. You are in.
1969		D. Di Prima Memoirs of a Beatnik 49: ‘Oh dear,’ I exclaimed [...] ‘such a chore, swallowing them [i.e. martinis], one after the other!’ This ingenuous remark endeared me to the entire company. I was ‘in’.

12. (US) in love.

1924

C.S. Montanye ‘The Dizzy Dumb-Bell’ in Top Notch 1 Aug. 🌐 The dizzy dumbbell! Did you get all that guff? He’s in again!

13. (US) facing trouble, under scrutiny.

1937

W.M. Raine Cool Customer 142: Be cautious, boys. Don’t get gun-crazy. We’re in bad enough already and can’t afford any mistakes.

14. in debt (to).

1931		W.R. Burnett Silver Eagle 3: .
1942		W.R. Burnett Quick Brown Fox 148: ‘Well this guy gets in us a couple hundred and we figured that was plenty, so we wouldn’t give him no more drinking credit’.
1971		R. Woodley Dealer 30: ‘Doug’ owed $2,000; ‘Stan’ was in for $15,100; ‘Dave’ had brought his balance down from $14,625 to $1,876.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 23: How much you in?

15. (US) being a member of one of the armed services.

1944		D. Burley N.Y. Amsterdam News 15 Jan. 10A: The cats not in [...] dodged trying to back track on the Stud With many Fingers.
1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 146: ‘How long you been a swabbie?’ [...] ‘I’ve been in ever since a week after we graduated.’.
1967		A. Baraka Tales (1969) 82: I was only maybe a year and a half in, with another year and a half to go.
1978		J. Webb Fields of Fire (1980) 27: Most guys wait till they been in a while. Like that swab was just in here. Gave him a goddam anchor.

16. (drugs) connected with drug suppliers.

2001

ONDCP Street Terms 12: In — Connected with drug suppliers.

17. limited to a small circle, e.g. a shared sense of humour.

1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 138: They didn’t dig my humour. Maybe it was too ‘in’.
1994		M. Ribowsky Don’t Look Back 120: [T]he in talk had it before that Satch was the equal of any big leaguer.

18. being a member of the police force.

1977		E. Torres Q&A 17: ‘I’m starting law school [...] By the time I got my twenty in, I’ll be a lawyer’.
1980		J. McClure Spike Island (1981) 217: My tutor con had seventeen years in.
2008		G. Pelecanos Way Home (2009) 213: A homcide detective in her mid-forties with almost twenty in.
2017		A. Parks Bloody January 77: ‘Fifteen years in and still no hope of getting any higher than a duty sergeant’.

19. see all in adj. (1)