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Glite Dictionary
🪡 To insert 💬 To add suddenly
to stick in

to stick in

2 4.1
Quickly add a short remark into a talk or conversation
  • phrasal verb
  • /stɪk ɪn/
  • Informal
: meter
  • So go ahead and buy whichever variety pleases you and come stick them in my elbows.

Anyways, this is what I stick in my app too.

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Examples

  • Let me just stick that back in there.

  • Anyways, this is what I stick in my app too.

    Laura Lee

  • So as well stick these bad boys in this video.

    Carli Bybel

  • I just stick a little bit in here like that.

  • These are hard to stick in.

    The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

  • I gotta go, but we'll stick a pin in it, all right?

    Mean Machine (2001)

  • Now often you'll have to stick in a few old variables too.

  • lt's one of those songs that sticks in your head... and ruins years of your life.

    A Guy Thing (2003)

  • And now let's rewrite this formula here, sticking in the V's that I've calculated.

  • During the meeting, she decided to stick in a brief comment about last quarter's performance.

Synonyms

to insert
vsto stick in
249 3.5

To put something inside something else

is more casual and can be unexpected rather than neutral
to throw in
vsto stick in
  • Informal
63 3.8

Add a short comment during a conversation

is used both casually and as a clear interjection
to interject
vsto stick in
38 6.5

To say something quickly to interrupt someone

is often casual or unexpected rather than a sudden interruption
to sneak in
vsto stick in
  • Informal
23 3.4

To include something quietly so people do not notice

is similar but often happens unexpectedly rather than secretly
to slip in
vsto stick in
23 4.4

To add a small comment quietly to a conversation or text

is more likely to be unexpected rather than merely subtle
to put in
vsto stick in
22 3.8

Interrupt a conversation to make a short comment or question

is usually casual but focused on interrupting rather than subtlety
to toss in
vsto stick in
  • Informal
16 4.4

To add a short comment during a conversation

is often unexpected and not always planned
to interpolate
vsto stick in
  • Formal
2 9.2

Put extra words or lines into a text, often changing its original meaning

is more casual and applied to speech or events rather than altering text

Antonyms

to remove
∞ 1.5

To move something or someone away from a place

to omit
71 3.4

Leave out something, for example a name, on purpose or by accident

How Casual

to slip in
23 4.4
to throw in
  • Informal
63 3.8
to stick in
  • Informal
2 4.1
to insert
249 3.5
to interject
38 6.5

Surface Forms

stick in infinitive
sticking in present participle
sticks in third person singular
stuck in past
stuck in past participle

Morphology

stick + in

The meaning 'to place or thrust something into' is directly and literally composed from 'stick' (to affix or push into) plus the preposition 'in' (inside), so a learner who knows both words can infer the sense. This is a common, literal verb+preposition construction found cross-linguistically and therefore readily comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Stick in may come from the image of someone sticking a small note in a book or sliding a quick joke into the middle of a speech. So, like that sudden slip-in, it now means 'to add something briefly or without warning'.