entrails

American  

[en-treylz, -truhlz] / ˈɛn treɪlz, -trəlz /

plural noun

1. the internal parts of the trunk of an animal body.

2. the intestines.

3. the internal parts of anything.

   the entrails of a machine.

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entrails British  

/ ˈɛntreɪlz /

plural noun

1. the internal organs of a person or animal; intestines; guts

2. the innermost parts of anything

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Etymology

Origin of entrails

1250–1300; Middle English entrailles < Anglo-French, Middle French < Vulgar Latin *interālia (compare early Medieval Latin intrālia ), alteration, by suffix change ( -al ¹ ), of Latin interānea guts, neuter plural of interāneus; see inter-, -an, -eous

Explanation

Use the word entrails when you want to refer — in a not too gory way — to the internal organs of a person or animal, particularly a dead one. If the inner parts of an animal are exposed, you can call them its entrails. The organs, particularly the intestines, are collectively known as an animal's entrails, and it's more common to refer to them this way if they're visible or removed from the body. Sometimes the noun entrails is used to mean the inside of something else, like the entrails of a street that's been dug up and exposed. The Latin interanea, or "internal," is the root of entrails.

Example Sentences

Then, in the Zaporizhzhia region, workshops where enemy devices were dismantled, their entrails methodically examined, their secrets extracted piece by piece.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

Her performance - complete with Bjork dressed in the entrails of a blue alien - was one of the most audacious moments of the night.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026

“A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” is sticky sweet and sludgy and so cloyingly aesthetic that the roadkill bleeds ropes of twee entrails.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2025

We can sit around reading entrails from the court’s scheduling order in the immunity appeal to attempt to parse that breakdown and to hurl our efforts at changing those numbers through hope and limited influence.

From Slate • Mar. 4, 2024

It was easy to read the message in his entrails.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

Related Words

• insides