embed

present singular third person embeds · participle present embedding · participle past embedded · past embedded · alternative imbed

1. transitiveTo lay (something) as in a bed; to lay in surrounding matter; to bed.

   to embed something in clay, mortar, or sand

   4 more examples

   To the man himself [Samuel Taylor Coleridge] Nature had given, in high measure, the seeds of a noble endowment; […] but imbedded in such weak laxity of character, in such indolences and esuriences as had made strange work with it.

   1851, Thomas Carlyle, “Coleridge”, in The Life of John Sterling, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, part I, page 78

   I have given my reasons for believing that … ; and that blank intervals of vast duration, as far as fossils are concerned, occurred during the periods when the bed of the sea was either stationary or rising, and likewise when sediment was not thrown down quickly enough to embed and preserve organic remains.

   1859, Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species

   This narrow-gauge line had suffered the same fate as that between Schull and Skibbereen, with the track taken up except where it runs through one of the town streets and is embedded in the macadam.

   1955 May, Rev. A. W. V. Mace, “An Irish Journey—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 304

   In the opposite direction a train got away from Huntly, but became embedded in the snow at Insch, where the passengers spent the night.

   1960 March, “The January blizzard in the North-East of Scotland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 139

2. broadlytransitiveTo include (something) in surrounding matter.

   We wanted to embed our reporter with the Fifth Infantry Division, but the Army would have none of it.

   1 more example

   After some unnecessary, producer-pleasing expository text, he opens the movie in close-up on the back of a camo combat helmet Sharpied in Vietnam-style graffiti, effectively embedding the viewer with a bedraggled squad of human soldiers—armed with assault rifles, sawed-off shotguns, and crossbows—as they inch toward the stake-wall of Caesar’s compound in an attempt to bust through, only to be met with deadly clumps of Amazonian arrows and smoky flung projectiles.

   2017 July 7, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “The ambitious War For The Planet Of The Apes ends up surrendering to formula”, in The Onion AV Club

3. transitivecomputingTo encapsulate within another document or data file.

   The instructions showed how to embed a chart from the spreadsheet within the wordprocessor document.

4. transitivemathematicsTo define a one-to-one function from one set to another so that certain properties of the domain are preserved when considering the image as a subset of the codomain.

   The torus S¹#92;timesS¹ can be embedded in #92;mathbb#123;R#125;³.

plural embeds · alternative imbed

1. One thing embedded within another, as:
   1. journalismAn embedded reporter or journalist, such as a war reporter assigned to and travelling with a military unit, or a political reporter assigned to follow and report on the campaign of a candidate.
   2. An element of an advertisement, etc. serving as a subliminal message.

      He alleges that ads for Seagram's gin, Chivas Regal scotch, Bacardi rum, Sprite soda, Camel and Kent cigarettes, Tweed perfume, Kanon cologne and myriad other products include embeds surreptitiously placed to induce purchase.

      1992, Sammy Richard Danna, Advertising and Popular Culture

   3. computingA digital object embedded within another, which is often a document.

      Adding controls, looping, and autoplay to an HTML5 video embed is simple.

      2011, Steve Fulton, Jeff Fulton, HTML5 Canvas, page 265

      1 more example

      When you change the content of these embeds, this information will be automatically updated in every page that the embeds are included in.

      2006, Richard Rutter, Andy Budd, Simon Collison, Blog Design Solutions

   4. computingA piece of computer hardware embedded within another physical object, which is often a larger IT device.