Take In

Phrasal verbs don’t really sink in sometimes, because they basically consist of a few “basic words that per se have different meanings.” Furthermore, each phrasal verb can have multiple meanings that are seemingly unrelated to each other. So occasionally, I want to delve into a particular phrasal verb.

take in

“take in (something or someone)” has the following meanings:

1. to completely understand the meaning of something
2. to go to see something of interest
3. to include something in an itinerary
4. to make clothes smaller
5. to receive money from sales
6. to receive something into the mind
7. to provide a place for someone to live
8. to take someone to a police station as a prisoner
9. to deceive someone

I’m not sure how to understand all of these, but I feel that each of them can be made to make sense by adding a complementary word after the “in”. For example, “mind (for 1, 6, and maybe 9)”, “plan (for 3)”, “inside itself (for 4)”, “wallet (for 5)”, “house (for 7)”, and “jail (for 8)”.