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Glite Dictionary
📱 To ask briefly 🛎️ To register arrival
to check in

to check in

136 1.6
To tell hotel or airport staff you have arrived and sign in
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈtʃɛk ɪn/
translation icon : registrarse
  • When you get to Hong Kong, check in, get some sleep, and do some sightseeing.

Then I just lay back to go there, check in and brought my key.

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Examples

  • I'll check in under the name Abzug.

    Drive-Away Dolls (2024)

  • OK, so we just checked in our hotel in Cebu.

  • Going to go check in the hotel, make some phone calls.

  • The only thing is they need it by tomorrow, so can you check in tonight?

    No Appointment Necessary (2017)

  • If you can get me to the hotel, check us in, same room.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • I will be checking in a very special guest.

    S1m0ne (2002)

  • You have five minutes to check in at your cottages, gentlemen.

    Double Team (1997)

  • Matt, did you check in at Williamsport, PA?

  • He checked in for the night, putting a "Do Not Disturb" on the door, and asked for a 6:00 A.M. wake-up call.

    My Mom's New Boyfriend (2008)

  • I need to check in at the airport two hours before my flight.

Synonyms

to sign in
vsto check in
58 1.8

Enter your name or details to show you have arrived

is done in person at a reception desk to announce arrival officially
to book in
vsto check in
  • UK
2 3.3

To sign up in advance to attend or stay at a place

is the act of announcing arrival at the place rather than arranging beforehand

Antonyms

to check out
117 2.5

To pay your bill and leave a hotel

How Official

to report
  • Formal
614 3.0
to appear
  • Formal
220 4.8
to check in
136 1.6
to arrive
∞ 1.0
to show up
∞ 1.4

Surface Forms

check in infinitive
checked in past
checked in past participle
checking in present participle
checks in third person singular

Morphology

check + in

The sense 'to contact someone briefly to ask about their well‑being' can be reasonably inferred from 'check' (to verify/inspect) combined with the particle 'in' (into/within), giving a notion of verifying someone's status, so learners who know the words will often guess the general idea. However, this is a phrasal verb with pragmatic nuances (also meaning 'register at a hotel' or 'give a brief update') and the exact interpersonal use is somewhat idiomatic and variable across languages, so it is not fully predictable without exposure.

Etymology

Check in comes from the image of arriving at a desk where a clerk checks your name on a list and lets you go in. So check in means 'to officially announce your arrival'.