interpreting prepositional phrase of "in"

Question

The hyperbole in naming the biggest of the approaching spring tides also reflects the enthusiasm people are demonstrating in rushing to the coast to watch the natural spectacle on offer.

^{(Source: France 24)}

In this sentence, there are two phrases of "in + noun" and I found the prepositional phrase of "in" bears multiple meaning like this:

in (RESULT), in (EXPERIENCING), in (DURING), in -ing(CAUSE) or etc.

I'm wondering not only the meaning of the phrase of "in" in the sentence, but also the way natives think when they meet such cases, because I was used to interpreting "in -ing" like that (as a cause) but it seems not that plausible choice among those meanings "in" phrase can have.

I guess, in the given sentence, the first "in" phrase has meaning of "during" and the second has meaning of cause or result.

The reason I wonder about how natives think when they meet "in + noun" is that as "in" phrase has lots of way to be taken in, when the sentence is spoken, the phrase, I thought, could be problematic to understand precisely and quickly.

So, in your opinion, which is right meaning in the sentence? and

How do you interpret or what concept do you have in mind when you meet the phrase of "in"? (or are you always ready in mind for such a bunch of meaning of "in" phrase case by case?)

Answer 1

You must mean "in + verb+ing" and not "in + noun". Also, it does not relate to 'cause' as you have interpreted.

The hyperbole in naming the biggest of the approaching spring tides

The 'in' here is used to indicate the quality of hyperbole the narrator senses as associated with the idea of naming the biggest tide.

the enthusiasm people are demonstrating in rushing to the coast

Similarly, here the narrator talks about the visible enthusiasm of the people as observed by him while they were rushing to the coast.

In the above two phrases, the use of 'in' represents "associated with" and "while" respectively.

As for the other part of your question:

in (RESULT), in (EXPERIENCING), in (DURING), in -ing(CAUSE) or etc.

• RESULT: Their day out together ended in a bitter quarrel.

• EXPERIENCING - a bit vague, but I'll try: I was too immersed in reading to notice his arrival.

• DURING: He earned a lot of goodwill in his short term as Chairman