WRITE IN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does write in mean? 

• WRITE IN (verb)
  The verb WRITE IN has 2 senses:

1. cast a vote by inserting a name that does not appear on the ballot

2. write to an organization

  Familiarity information: WRITE IN used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WRITE IN (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cast a vote by inserting a name that does not appear on the ballot

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

Many voters wrote in the names of strangers

Hypernyms (to "write in" is one way to...):

vote (express one's preference for a candidate or for a measure or resolution; cast a vote)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

write-in (a vote cast by writing in the name of a candidate who is not listed on the ballot)

write-in (a candidate for public office whose name does not appear on the ballot and so must be written on the ballot by the voters)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Write to an organization

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

Many listeners wrote in after the controversial radio program

Hypernyms (to "write in" is one way to...):

write (communicate or express by writing)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

How many letters you must have occasion to write in the course of a year!

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

These may be the last words I ever write in this diary.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

We could write in the meantime, and he used to write every day.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“It is a pity he did not write in pencil,” said he, throwing them down again with a shrug of disappointment.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

An early Earth without emergent continents may have resembled a 'water world,' providing an important environmental constraint on the origin and evolution of life on Earth as well as its possible existence elsewhere, geoscientists Benjamin Johnson and Boswell Wing write in a paper.

(Scientists determine early Earth was a ‘water world’ by studying exposed ocean crust, National Science Foundation)

I thought never to write in this diary again, but the time has come.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I don't mean one of those two-pages-to-the-week-with-Sunday-squeezed-in-a-corner diaries, but a sort of journal which I can write in whenever I feel inclined.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

This morning when I woke I thought I would provide myself with some paper and envelopes from my bag and keep them in my pocket, so that I might write in case I should get an opportunity, but again a surprise, again a shock!

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

So I determined to write only formal notes now, but to write fully to Mr. Hawkins in secret, and also to Mina, for to her I could write in shorthand, which would puzzle the Count, if he did see it.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)