inside

/ˈɪnsaɪd/

inside noun: the interior or inner part.

Noun

inside (plural insides)

The interior or inner part.
- The inside of the building has been extensively restored.
- 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)...
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.
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.
(colloquial, in plural) The interior organs of the body, especially the guts.
- Eating that stuff will damage your insides.
(UK, colloquial, dated) A 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
- 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
(slang) The 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

Adjective

inside (not comparable)

Of or pertaining to the inner surface, limit or boundary.
- The inside surface of the cup is unpainted.
Nearer to the interior or centre of something.
- Because of the tighter bend, it's harder to run in an inside lane.
- All the window seats were occupied, so she took an inside seat.
Originating from, arranged by, or being someone inside an organisation.
- The reporter had received inside information about the forthcoming takeover.
- The robbery was planned by the security guard: it was an inside job.
Legally 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.
- 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
- 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
Antonyms:

outside
Toward the batter as it crosses home plate.
- The first pitch is ... just a bit inside.
At 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

Adverb

inside (not comparable)

Within or towards the interior of something; within the scope or limits of a place, especially a building.
- I opened the book and found a hidden note inside.
- It started raining, so I went inside.
1. Indoors.
  - It was snowing, so the children stayed inside.
  - Inside, the ceiling, beams, walls, and stairs are made of locally sourced Douglas fir and pine […]2026 May, Julie Belcove, “Farm Fresh”, in Architectural Digest, volume 83, number 4, page 93
2. On the inner side of something.
  - I cleaned the window inside.
3. (colloquial) In or to prison.
  - He spent ten years inside, doing a stretch for burglary.
  - She will have to go inside unless the jury sides with her.
Intimately, secretly or in one's inner heart or soul; without expressing what one is feeling or thinking.
- That's something I truly believe inside.
- He knows the truth, but he's keeping it inside.

Preposition

inside

Within the interior of, closest to the center or to a specific point of reference; on the interior side of.
- He placed the letter inside the envelope.
- He was inside the doorway.
To the interior of.
- She walked inside the house.
Within (a period of time).
- The job was finished inside two weeks.
- 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

inside meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

inside in Hindi

interior or inner part: अंतः antaḥ
within the interior (position): अंतः antaḥ, अंदर andar, भीतर bhitar
within the interior of, closest to the center or to a specific point of reference: अंतः antaḥ, अंदर andar

inside in Tamil

interior or inner part: உட்புறம் uṭpuṟam, உள் uḷ, உள்ளே uḷḷē, அகம் akam
interior organs of the body: உள்ளுறுப்புகள் uḷḷuṟuppukaḷ, அகம் akam
of or pertaining to the inner surface, limit or boundary: உட்புறம் uṭpuṟam, உட்பக்கம் uṭpakkam
originating from, arranged by, or being someone inside an organisation: உள் uḷ

inside in Marathi

within the interior of, closest to the center or to a specific point of reference: अन्तर antar

inside in Urdu

within the interior (position): اندر andar, بھیتر bhiter
within the interior of, closest to the center or to a specific point of reference: اندر andar

More languagesFewer languages

inside in Bengali: ভিতরে bhitore
inside in Telugu: లోపల lōpala
inside in Malayalam: അകത്ത് akattŭ, ഉള്ളിൽ uḷḷil
inside in Kannada: ಒಳಗೆ oḷage
inside in Punjabi: ਅੰਦਰ andar, ਮੱਧ maddha
inside in Gujarati: અંદર andar
inside in Odia: ଭିତର୍ bhitar, ଭିତରେ bhitare
inside in Sanskrit: अन्त anta
inside in Assamese: ভিতৰ bhitor, ভিতৰত bhitorot
inside in Nepali: भित्र bhitra
inside in Arabic: دَاخِل dāḵil, فِي بَطْن fī baṭn, ضِمْن ḍimn, جُوَّة gowwa
inside in Indonesian: dalam
inside in Persian: داخل dâxel, اندرون andarun, درون darun
inside in Thai: ข้างใน kâang-nai, ภายใน paai-nai, ใน nai
inside in Vietnamese: bên trong
inside in Myanmar: အထဲ a.htai:

Examples of inside in a sentence

They wanted to know the inside story behind the celebrity's fall from grace.
The secretive residents of the massive city-ship tended to stay inside.
Look inside to find the strength you need to go on.
Are you laughing at us inside?
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:
“They have an inside man at the base, so I didn't want to alert him.2011, G. M. Lucas, An Unsung Quartet, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 210:

All 40 example sentences with inside

Antonyms of inside

outside

Forms of inside

plural	insides

Plural of inside: insides

Origin of inside

From Middle English ynneside; equivalent to in- + side. Compare German Innenseite (“inside”), Danish inderside (“inside”), Swedish insida (“inside”), Dutch binnenzijde (“inside”), German Low German Binnensied, Binnersied (“inside”), Saterland Frisian Binnersiede (“inside”).

Words formed from inside

Phrases with inside

33 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with inside

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about inside

What does inside mean?: Inside means the interior or inner part.
What is inside in Hindi?: Inside in Hindi is अंतः (antaḥ), अंदर (andar), भीतर (bhitar). See Inside meaning in Hindi.
How do you use inside in a sentence?: They wanted to know the inside story behind the celebrity's fall from grace.
What part of speech is inside?: Inside can be a noun, an adjective, an adverb or a preposition.
How do you pronounce inside?: Inside is pronounced /ˈɪnsaɪd/.
What is the plural of inside?: The plural of inside is insides.

Words near inside in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-inside.ogg.

Cite this entry: “inside.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/inside. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.