Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to move in

to move in

415 1.8
To start living in a new home or office
  • phrasal verb
  • /muːv ɪn/
translation icon : mudarse a
  • So it has been one week since we moved in to this lovely new apartment.

So they let me move in with Aunt Sandy and Uncle Danny.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Once the paperwork was completed, we were ready to move in to our new home.

  • When did he move in?

    The Place Beyond the Pines (2013)

  • And so she helped me move in when I came that time.

  • Help this kid move in, please.

  • When we sold our big house, he let us move in with him.

    Shawn Ryan Show

  • The place is much the same as it was when I moved in.

    Paths of Glory (1957)

  • I found my way back to London somehow and moved in with friends for a while.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Eventually, she had to quit her job and move in with her grandmother.

    Academic text (2010)

  • So they let me move in with Aunt Sandy and Uncle Danny.

    Shawn Ryan Show

  • The family above us just moved in from Bosnia.

    You Should Know Podcast

Synonyms

to relocate
vsto move in
147 3.7

Move to a new place and start living or working there

refers specifically to beginning to live in a new house or office

Antonyms

to move out
164 1.9

To leave a home or building and take your things with you

How Settled

to settle in
132 3.3
to move in
415 1.8
to stay over
  • Informal
70 3.0

Surface Forms

move in infinitive
moved in past
moved in past participle
moving in present participle
moves in third person singular

Morphology

move + in

The meaning 'to start living in or occupying a new place' is directly and predictably derived from combining 'move' (change one's place) with the directional particle 'in' (into the interior/space), yielding 'move into/occupy'. This motion verb + particle composition is common and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The phrasal verb move in comes from the simple picture of carrying boxes and furniture through the door and into a new home or office. When you move things in, you begin to live or work there, so the phrase means 'to start living in or occupying a new place'.