Meanings
- figurativelyBeneath the surface; in the internal workings.
Internet search engines are easy to use, but there's a lot going on under the hood.
2 more examples
Under the hood, Mosaic is primitive by today's standards, but it's design is recognizable. Sure, it's all black, white and gray with flat buttons, but it would take absolutely no time to adjust to it.
2010 September 2, Niraj Chokshi, “The Stagnant History of the Browser Interface: A Retrospective”, in The AtlanticThere have been some tweaks under the hood, as you would expect, and one major alteration that will probably divide fans, but this 25-year-old motor is very much still running.
2022 March 4, Mike Channell, “Gran Turismo 7 review – the ultimate racing game is fresh and comfortingly familiar”, in The Guardian, →ISSNSynonyms: beneath the hood, underneath the hood
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see under, the, hood: beneath the bonnet (of a car or truck).
She's got whitewall tires and suicide doors / Under the hood, got a four-fifty-four / Well, they don't make 'em like that no more / Not since nineteen seventy-four / Big cars / Yeah, I like big cars
2002, Heather Myles, “Big Cars”, in Sweet Talk and Good Lies, performed by Heather Myles
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseBeneath the surface; in the internal workings.
Origin
The figurative sense is extended from the literal sense via metaphor.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French sous le capot
- sous le capotbeneath the surface
Cite this entry
under the hood. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20hood
“under the hood.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20hood. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “under the hood,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20hood.
Source: under the hood on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.