# embed

Pronunciation: say "im-BED" /ɪmˈbɛd/

## Verb

1. To include something within surrounding matter, so that it is enclosed by the material around it.
   - Simple: To fix something firmly inside another material so that the material surrounds it.
   - _Manufacturers embed sensors in the pavement to track traffic flow._
   - _The glacier had embedded huge boulders in the valley floor._
2. To lay something in surrounding material, settling it in place as if into a bed.
   - Simple: To lay something down in a soft material that holds it, the way a bed holds you.
   - _Masons embed each course of bricks in a fresh bed of mortar._
   - _The crew embedded the drainage pipes in gravel before filling in the trench._
3. To encapsulate a digital object, such as an image or video, within another document or data file.
   - Simple: To place a file, picture, or video inside another file, such as a document or web page.
   - _Web developers embed interactive maps in contact pages with a few lines of code._
   - _The newsletter embeds a short survey in each issue._
7. To define a one-to-one function from one set into another that preserves certain properties of the first set within its image inside the second.
   - Simple: In math, to place one set inside another in a way that keeps the first set's important features the same.
   - _Mathematicians embed the rational numbers in the real numbers to study them inside a complete number system._
   - _Cayley's theorem embeds every finite group in a group of permutations._

## Noun

Pronunciation: say "EM-bed" /ˈɛm.bɛd/

4. A journalist assigned to travel with a military unit or a political campaign, reporting on it from within.
   - Simple: A reporter who travels with soldiers or a politician's team and reports on what happens from the inside.
   - _As an embed with the battalion, he filed dispatches from the front lines._
   - _The campaign gave its embeds unusual access to strategy meetings._
5. A digital object, such as a video or social media post, contained within another, often a document or web page.
   - Simple: A picture, video, or other item placed inside another file, such as a web page or document.
   - _The article includes a tweet embed showing the senator's original statement._
   - _Editors removed several embeds after the source videos were taken down._
6. A piece of computer hardware built into another physical object, often a larger IT device.
   - Simple: A small computer part built inside a larger machine or device.
   - _The router contains an embed that handles encryption separately from the main processor._
   - _Diagnostic embeds inside the turbines report vibration data in real time._
8. An element of an advertisement or similar media that functions as a subliminal message.
   - Simple: A word or picture hidden in an ad, meant to change how people feel without them noticing.
   - _The lecturer pointed to an alleged embed hidden in the ice cubes of a liquor ad._
   - _He spent hours searching vintage magazine ads for embeds aimed at the subconscious._

## Origin

Formed from the prefix em- and the word bed.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/embed (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).