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 ( see -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

The circuit board from an old talking doll that was all the rage in 1985 gets the solemn description: “Teddy Ruxpin’s Holy Entrails Excised Under Unknown Circumstances.”

From Seattle Times • Nov. 10, 2021

But the Patient must be oblig'd to lie on his Belly for some Days successively, to cicatrize the Wound thereof, or that of the Entrails.

From The Compleat Surgeon or, the whole Art of Surgery explain'd in a most familiar Method. by Le Clerc, Charles Gabriel

Entrails, bones, sinews, bits of hide and everything was used.

From Death Valley in '49 by Manly, William Lewis

Gazarim or Auruspices, and Diviners, such as divin’d by the Entrails of Beasts, the Liver in particular; mention’d in Ezek. or as others, call’d Augurs.

From The History of the Devil As Well Ancient as Modern: In Two Parts by Defoe, Daniel

My uncle, the Catechist, is Tioakoekoe, Man Whose Entrails Were Roasted on a Stick, and his brother is called Pootuhatuha, meaning Sliced and Distributed.

From White Shadows in the South Seas by O'Brien, Frederick

Related Words

• insides