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read in

B2 formal separable transitive
In simple words

To officially tell someone secret or important information they need to know; or to load information into a computer.

Meanings

1 C1 idiomatic formal

(Intelligence/government) To formally give someone access to and knowledge of classified or sensitive information.

"The new director was read in on all current covert operations during her first week."

Grammar: separable
2 B2 neutral

(Computing) To input or load data from an external source into a computer system or program.

"The script reads in the configuration file each time the application starts."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

The security/intelligence sense is common in government and military contexts in American English ('get read in on a programme'). The computing sense is more technical. Not to be confused with 'read into'.

Commonly used with

programme project data file briefing intelligence

Forms

Base
read in
I/you/we/they
3rd person
reads in
he/she/it
Past simple
read in
yesterday
Past participle
read in
have + pp
-ing form
reading in
continuous

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Synonyms

brief inform bring up to speed induct load import

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