insert

Formsinserts, inserting, inserted

Pluralinserts

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To place something into or between other things.

   Insert the key into the lock and turn it gently.

   The editor inserted a new paragraph between the two sections.

   Similarput, place, slip, introduce, add

   Oppositeremove, extract, withdraw, delete

   Note

   The verb the nouns all grow from: Latin inserere, built from in- and serere, "to join, bind together, interweave." The image is of fitting one thing into a line or weave of others. That is why it suits a card slid into a slot as easily as steps added to a proof. It takes into or between. Its etymological counterpart is exsert, the same root with ex-.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   A promotional or instructional leaflet placed inside a magazine, newspaper, or product package.

   The weekend edition is packed with advertising inserts.

   She tossed the insert from the cereal box without reading it.

   Similarleaflet, flyer, supplement, pamphlet, circular

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A separate component fitted into another mechanical part, often to add strength or a different material.

   Engineers fitted a hardened steel insert into the cylinder bore.

   Threaded inserts let you fasten bolts into soft aluminum.

   Similarsleeve, liner

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A picture or image placed within a passage of text.

   The textbook uses a labeled insert to show the engine's parts.

   Editors positioned several inserts beside the relevant paragraphs.

   Similarinset, illustration, figure

5. 5
   noun

   A keyboard key that toggles between insert mode, where typed text pushes existing text aside, and overwrite mode.

   Tapping Insert toggled the editor into overwrite mode.

   Many laptops shrink or remove the Insert key to save space.

   Note

   This is a key named for a mode. In insertion, new characters push existing text to the right. In overtype, or overwrite, they replace the character at the cursor. As a key name it is capitalized, the Insert key, and each press switches between the two states. That is why an accidental tap can suddenly make typing eat the text ahead of it.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A close-up shot used to draw the viewer's attention to a particular detail within a larger scene.

   The editor cut to an insert of the detective's trembling hands.

   Several inserts of the map oriented the audience before the chase.

   Similarclose-up

   Note

   An editor's term for the shot that isolates one detail, such as a clock face, a hand or a written note, and cuts it into a wider scene. David Bordwell's Narration in the Fiction Film (2013) describes a sequence intercut with "an insert of the emergency stop button." That shows the usual phrasing, an insert of something, set among other close-ups to steer the viewer's eye.

7. 7
   nouncountable

   In broadcasting, a segment recorded in advance and then played during a live program.

   The program cut to an insert of the reporter's earlier interview.

   Producers lined up three inserts to fill the live hour.

   Similarclip, segment, package

   Note

   A producer's word for prepared material dropped into a live program: an interview, a report, a packaged story. A broadcast cuts or rolls to an insert, then returns to the studio. Keep it apart from the close-up shot, which is a single detail cut into a scene. Here the insert is a whole segment, and what defines it is that it was recorded beforehand.

8. 8
   nouncountable

   An expression, such as 'please' or an interjection, with a flexible position within an utterance.

   Linguists treat "please" as an insert, since it can attach almost anywhere in a sentence.

   Inserts like "oh" and "well" float freely through casual conversation.

   Note

   A grammarian's term for the small words that refuse a fixed slot. Please can open a request, close it, or sit in the middle of it without disturbing the grammar around it: please sit down, sit down please, could you please sit down. Interjections such as oh and well move just as freely, and that mobility is what earns them a class of their own.

9. 9
   nouncountable

   In genetics, a stretch of DNA that has been introduced into another DNA molecule.

   Researchers ligated the insert into a plasmid vector.

   Sequencing confirmed that the inserts carried no mutations.

   Note

   In genetics the word names the passenger, not the vehicle. The insert is the introduced stretch of DNA, and the vector or host genome is what receives it. Recombinant work places it there so it can be copied, expressed or studied. Researchers ligate an insert into a plasmid vector, and they sequence inserts to check what they carry.

10. 10
    nouncountable

    In audio production, a plug-in placed on a track to process its sound with an effect.

    The engineer loaded a compressor as the first insert on the bass channel.

    He bypassed the inserts to compare the raw and processed sound.

    Similarplug-in

    Note

    Recording engineers care about where an effect sits in the signal chain. One loaded as an insert is patched straight into a channel's signal path and processes that track's whole stream in series. A compressor there shapes everything the channel sends onward. A send-based effect works on a parallel copy instead. Engineers load, stack and bypass inserts to compare processed and raw sound.

11. 11
    nouncolloquialcountable

    An absorbent pad placed inside a cloth diaper to soak up moisture.

    The bamboo insert held more moisture than the cotton one.

    Parents often layer two inserts for overnight use.

    Similarpad, liner

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