# How to put a symbol inside another in math mode?

In math mode, I would like to put a symbol inside another.
Let say I want to put an x inside a V.
I would like x to be in the empty space inside the letter V.
I guess I need to put V in a box, then x in a box too, and strecth/quench/overlap each box.

I look at this thread, How to put a symbol inside a circle arrow?.
I tried the following, but it is not nice looking

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\begin{document}
\setbox1=\hbox{$V$}
\setbox2=\hbox{$x$}
\makebox[0pt][c]{\usebox1}
\makebox[0pt][r]{\raisebox{2.5pt}{$x$}}
\hspace{0.5\wd1} Here is some more text.
\end{document}​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​


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Just curious... What do you need that for? –  Bruno Le Floch Jul 14 '12 at 15:14

This could be a starter using \kern and \raisebox. You may experiment with the dimensions:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\newcommand*{\xV}{{\large V}\kern-0.55em\raisebox{1.4ex}{\tiny x}}
\begin{document}
\xV
\end{document}


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The \ooalign primitive can be used to overlap symbols horizontally (I've learned at least that much in my time here!), rather than having to use boxes:

\documentclass{article}
\newcommand{\Vx}{%
\ooalign{\Large $V$\cr\hss\raisebox{1.4ex}{\scriptsize $x$}\hss}}%
\begin{document}
Here is some more text. \Vx
\end{document}


Vertical adjustment comes from \raisebox{<len>}{<stuff>}, as needed.

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Why not $\scriptstyle x$? I'd use \hidewidth instead of \hss. –  egreg Jul 14 '12 at 19:36