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Zuotengdazuo Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

"in on itself" meaning?

I ran into this phrase in a novel called Angels and Demons.
Here is the quotation which contains the phrase:

Then, as fast as it(the annihilation of antimatter) appeared, the sphere imploded, sucking back in on itself, crushing inward to the tiny point of light from which it had come.
I guess it means "by itself". Am I correct? Please tell me how to understand the phrase correctly, thank you.
  

Top answer

No, this describes the effect of a collapse or implosion. Specifically, "on itself" means that the outer parts of an object collapse onto the inner parts.

— GPY

  • No, this describes the effect of a collapse or implosion.
  • Specifically, "on itself" means that the outer parts of an object collapse onto the inner parts.
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7 Answers
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No, this describes the effect of a collapse or implosion. Specifically, "on itself" means that the outer parts of an object collapse onto the inner parts.
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zuotengdazuoI guess it means "by itself".
No. It's really "on".

"on" comes from analogies with various other verbs and nouns that take "on".

suck on, draw on, put pressure on, push on, pull on, or more generally exert force on.

Everything in the sphere pulled inward as if it were sucking/pulling on the exterior
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Thank you for your replies. But I'm ask about the meaning of "in on itself", not "on itself". I can picture the image of the implosion but I still don't understand the pattern "in on itself".
I have found this pattern in other phrases on the internet such as "(globalization) turn in on itself", "(a film) fold in on itself".etc. Does this pattern(in on onself) have the same
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zuotengdazuoThank you for your replies. But I'm ask about the meaning of "in on itself", not "on itself".
"in" describes motion towards the centre. It contributes to the same overall meaning of something collapsing inwards.
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Thank you for your further explanation. So you mean "in on itself" is not a pattern beacause "in" collocates with the word in front of it. But one question is still confusing me: do all these above-mentioned phrases("fold in on itself", "turn in on itself", etc) have the same meaning(something collapsing inwards)? Thank you again.

Here is the quotations:

1. Using high-spee
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zuotengdazuoSo you mean "in on itself" is not a pattern beacause "in" collocates with the word in front of it.
In the case of "sucking back in on itself" this is debatable, but since it doesn't make any difference to the meaning, it doesn't really matter.
zuotengdazuoBut one question is still confusing me: do all these above-mentioned p
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Thank you, I get it. See you.Emotion: smile
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