To include means to make something or someone part of a group or whole. When a teacher includes all students in a class discussion, she makes sure everyone gets a chance to participate. When a recipe includes chocolate chips, those chips are one of the ingredients that belong in the dish.

When you include something, you're bringing it inside the boundaries of whatever you're talking about. A book might include illustrations, a museum ticket might include admission to special exhibits, or a birthday party invitation might include directions to the house.

Include often appears with its opposite, exclude. If a club includes new members, it welcomes them in. If it excludes them, it keeps them out. Including people in conversations and activities helps them feel part of the group, while excluding them can make them feel left out.

Notice that include suggests something is part of a larger whole but not necessarily all of it. When someone says “The price includes tax,” they mean tax is part of what you pay, but there might be other costs too. This differs from words like “consist of,” which describe everything in the whole.