including

1. 1
   among thempreposition

   Used to introduce people, things, or facts that are part of the group or topic just mentioned, given as examples.

   The vacation package covers several services, including airport transfers and daily meals.

   Several countries, including Japan and Brazil, signed the agreement.

   UsageOften after a comma: several countries, including Japan. It already shows the list may not be complete, so it needs no etc. at the end.

   Note

   A preposition that grew out of a verb form: include plus -ing, the same shape as the participle of include. What follows is usually a noun phrase, but it can be a whole prepositional phrase. The Economist in 2013 wrote of protest across China, "including among a middle class."

2. 2
   bringing inverb

   Present participle of include.

   This year the company is including part-time staff in its holiday bonus, which used to go only to full-time workers.

   By including local artists, the festival broadened its appeal.

   Note

   Unlike the list-opening preposition, this form still works as a verb. Something does the including, and it takes an object. It heads gerund phrases (by including local artists) and joins be in progressive ones. It carries the live meanings of include, the programmer's among them: a file can be including code from another file through a directive. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • A file can include code from another file through a directive. gcc.gnu.org

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