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”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪnsaɪd/, /ɪnˈsaɪd/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio

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• Rhymes: -aɪd

inside (plural insides)

1. The interior or inner part.
   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare

     Looked he o' the inside of the paper?

   The inside of the building has been extensively restored.

2. 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.

3. (colloquial) (in the plural) The interior organs of the body, especially the guts.

   Eating that stuff will damage your insides.

4. (dated, Britain, colloquial) A passenger within a coach or carriage, as distinguished from one upon the outside.
   • (Can we date this quote?) J. H. Frere

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

   • (Can we date this quote?) Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

     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.

inside

1. Within the interior of something, closest to the center or to a specific point of reference.

   He placed the letter inside the envelope.

2. Within a period of time.
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 4, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     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.

inside (comparative more inside, superlative most inside)

1. Within or towards the interior of something, especially a building.

   It started raining, so I went inside.

2. Intimately, secretly. (feeling or thinking without expressing it)

   Are you laughing at us inside?

3. (colloquial) In prison.

   He's inside, doing a stretch for burglary.

inside (comparative more inside, superlative most inside)

1. Originating from or arranged by 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.

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

2. (baseball) A pitch that is toward the batter as it crosses home plate.

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

3. Nearer to the interior of a running track, horse racing course etc.

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

• indoors

• outside

• inside job
• inside salesman

• insider
• withinside

• Indies, die-ins, in dies, indies

īnsidē

1. second-person singular present active imperative of īnsideō