inside

plural insides

1. The interior or inner part.

   The inside of the building has been extensively restored.

   1 more example

   Looked he o' the inside of the paper?

   1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]

2. The left-hand side of a road if one drives on the left, or right-hand side if one drives on the right.

   On a motorway, you should never pass another vehicle on the inside.

3. The side of a curved road, racetrack etc. that has the shorter arc length; the side of a racetrack nearer the interior of the course or some other point of reference.

   The car in front drifted wide on the bend, so I darted up the inside to take the lead.

4. colloquialin pluralThe interior organs of the body, especially the guts.

   Eating that stuff will damage your insides.

5. UKcolloquialdatedA passenger within a coach or carriage, as distinguished from one upon the outside.

   So down thy hill, romantic Ashbourne, glides / The Derby dilly, carrying three insides.

   1798, John Hookham Frere, George Canning, The Loves of the Triangles

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   So, what between Mr. Dowler's stories, and Mrs. Dowler's charms, and Mr. Pickwick's good humour, and Mr. Winkle's good listening, the insides contrived to be very companionable all the way.

   1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC

6. slangThe inside scoop; information known only to certain involved people.

   Anyone got the inside on the new ratings? The book is out.

   2000, Jean Forray, The View from the Bottom, page 58

1. not comparableOf or pertaining to the inner surface, limit or boundary.

   The inside surface of the cup is unpainted.

2. not comparableNearer to the interior or centre of something.

   All the window seats were occupied, so she took an inside seat.

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   Because of the tighter bend, it's harder to run in an inside lane.

   As the centripetal force is an inverse function of the radius of the curve, it follows that the runner in the outside lane will be less affected than the runner in the inside lane.

   2003, Timothy Noakes, Lore of Running, Human Kinetics, →ISBN, page 731

3. not comparableOriginating from, arranged by, or being someone inside an organisation.

   The robbery was planned by the security guard: it was an inside job.

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   The reporter had received inside information about the forthcoming takeover.

   They wanted to know the inside story behind the celebrity's fall from grace.

   “They have an inside man at the base, so I didn't want to alert him. If their inside man called Mr. C about us locating the C-4, I doubt you and Gail would still be alive.”

   2011, G. M. Lucas, An Unsung Quartet, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 210

4. not comparableLegally married to or related to (e.g. born in wedlock to), and/or residing with, a specified other person (parent, child, or partner); (of a marriage, relationship, etc) existing between two such people.

   An 'outside wife' has limited social recognition and status because her husband typically refuses to declare her publicly as his wife. She also has much less social and politico-jural recognition than an 'inside wife' [...]

   2008, Miriam Koktvedgaard Zeitzen, Polygamy: A Cross-Cultural Analysis, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 158

   2 more examples

   But the terms normally used to distinguish a man's resident and absent children are "inside" and "outside," the reference being to the home where the common father dwells. Only rarely will a man describe his "inside" children born out of out of wedlock as "lawful," [...]

   1974, Michael Garfield Smith, The Plural Society in the British West Indies, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 235

   [The person] who was going to visit her with his wife had a physical resemblance to the abuser, so some of her inside children had a strong reaction of fear and revulsion to him. They were afraid to look at the face of the guest in case he was the abuser.

   2014, Alison Miller, Becoming Yourself: Overcoming Mind Control and Ritual Abuse, Karnac Books, →ISBN, page 185

   Antonyms: outside

5. not comparableball gamesToward the batter as it crosses home plate.

   The first pitch is ... just a bit inside.

6. not comparableAt or towards or the left-hand side of the road if one drives on the left, or right-hand side if one drives on the right.

   the inside lane of the motorway

1. not comparableWithin or towards the interior of something; within the scope or limits of a place, especially a building.

   It started raining, so I went inside.

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   I opened the book and found a hidden note inside.

   The secretive residents of the massive city-ship tended to stay inside.

   1. not comparableIndoors.

      It was snowing, so the children stayed inside.

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      Inside, the ceiling, beams, walls, and stairs are made of locally sourced Douglas fir and pine […]

      2026 May 28, Julie Belcove, “Farm Fresh”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 93

   2. not comparableOn the inner side of something.

      I cleaned the window inside.

   3. colloquialnot comparableIn or to prison.

      He spent ten years inside, doing a stretch for burglary.

      1 more example

      She will have to go inside unless the jury sides with her.

2. not comparableIntimately, secretly or in one's inner heart or soul; without expressing what one is feeling or thinking.

   Are you laughing at us inside?

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   That's something I truly believe inside.

   He knows the truth, but he's keeping it inside.

   Look inside to find the strength you need to go on.

   The onetime enfant terrible, now a 50-year-old whose best work was behind him, reached inside to create his masterpiece.

   2021 March 19, Gary Kamiya, “One of San Francisco’s strangest buildings was a mash-up masterpiece”, in San Francisco Chronicle, archived from the original on 27 Apr 2026

1. Within the interior of, closest to the center or to a specific point of reference; on the interior side of.

   He was inside the doorway.

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   He placed the letter inside the envelope.

2. To the interior of.

   She walked inside the house.

3. Within (a period of time).

   The job was finished inside two weeks.

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   Then he commenced to talk, really talk, and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC