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Glite Dictionary
🚪 A large closet 🚪 Large enough to enter 🚶 No-appointment visitor 🏥 No-appointment service 🏆 An easy win 🕵️ A volunteer informant
walk-in

walk-in

1 8.2
A person who comes to a government to give secret information or ask to stay in the country
  • noun
  • /ˈwɔkˌɪn/
  • Jargon
translation icon : informante
  • After weeks of intrigue, the walk-in met with the officials to reveal important secrets.

Examples

  • You didn't give the French Ambassador's mobile number to a walk-in?

    Mile 22 (2018)

  • She was a walk-in.

    The Frozen Ground (2013)

  • Like I'm just some walk-in off the street.

    North of the 10 (2022)

  • The agent reported that the walk-in provided critical intelligence about enemy movements.

  • During the meeting, an unexpected walk-in presented information that changed the course of negotiations.

Surface Forms

walk-in singular
walk-ins plural

Morphology

walk-in = walk in (semi-transparent) = in + walk

The connection to voluntarily 'walking in' is clear, but the specific intelligence sense is specialized and not fully predictable for learners.

Etymology

Walk-in for an intelligence source comes from walk and in, meaning someone who 'walks in' to an agency without prior contact to offer information. So, a walk-in is a person who comes on their own to give information or ask for asylum.