plug in

present singular third person plugs in · participle present plugging in · participle past plugged in · past plugged in

1. idiomaticTo connect (an electrical device) to a plug socket.

   Hello, IT. Have you tried turning it off and turning it on again? Ok. Well, are you sure that it's plugged in?

   2006 Feb. 17, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 4

   1 more example

   I eschew the idea of plugging in my laptop to take notes and resort to old-fashioned pen and paper instead, so that I can enjoy more of the view and not be distracted by bashing a keyboard.

   2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 65

   Antonyms: unplug

2. idiomaticTo familiarize and integrate (a person) into an organization.

   The Eskimos’ [football team] organizational depth has been tested early and often by a persistent injury bug that has claimed three starters […] and they continue to plug in new players and carry on.

   2017 July 15, Dan Barnes, “Dan Barnes: Eskimos survive late scare to remain only unbeaten CFL team”, in Edmonton Journal

   2 more examples

   The drivers routinely patrol these areas- welfare offices, senior centers, even street corners- asking the Medicare patients to come with them for check-ups in return for cash. […] To get plugged in, we enlisted Lizzie Green, a 75-year-old widow who lives on social security and a small pension. She agreed to be our undercover test patient.

   1994 September 22, 'Clinical Evidence' - Fraudulent Medicare Claims in FL (television production), Chris Wallace (actor), ABC

   Research shows that children whose parents are involved in their school make better grades and have fewer disciplinary problems at school. When parents get plugged in at school, their children do better.

   c. 2017, Jay Moneta Hunter Thomson, “Membership”, in Wyatt Elementary PTA

3. idiomaticmathematicsTo replace a variable with a number in order to solve an equation.

   If an equation has three unknowns, you can plug in two of them to find the third.

   Synonyms: substitute

4. idiomaticTo input or enter (data).

   Want to find out what the bloggers are talking about before it hits the mainstream? Just sign up for PubSub […] and plug in your search terms. This site crawls more than 9 million blogs, public relations newswires, and SEC filings for relevant entries, and then e-mails you the results.

   2005 July, Dan Tynan, “30 Things You Didn't Know You Could Do on the Internet”, in PC World, volume 23, number 7, page 76

5. To become involved in something.

   The inability of the gay movement as a whole to interrelate AIDS work with the many other items on its political agenda left vast segments of the lesbian and gay community sitting on the sidelines wondering how and why to plug in.

   1983 December 24, Cindy Patton, “AIDS: Putting the Pieces Together”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 23, page 3