innards

[in-erdz]

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. the internal parts of the body; entrails or viscera.

2. the internal mechanism, parts, structure, etc., of something; the interior of something.

   an engine's innards.

innards

/ ˈɪnədz /

plural noun

1. the internal organs of the body, esp the viscera

2. the interior parts or components of anything, esp the working parts

Word History and Origins

Origin of innards¹

1815–25; variant of inwards ( def. ), noun use of inward

Word History and Origins

Origin of innards¹

C19: colloquial variant of inwards

Example Sentences

Decades ago, watch repair shops across the country were staffed with technicians who could service almost any mechanical timepiece when its intricate innards — tiny gears, wheels and springs — failed.

From Los Angeles Times

Strung up in the sturdy branches of a tree are yellow and blue heavy-duty cables - once high-voltage electrical cables, their copper wire innards have now been stripped out and sold as scrap metal.

From BBC

Gurr began dissecting the figure’s innards, working primarily with parts from the airline industry.

From Los Angeles Times

Even as it gnaws out its own innards, the United States of America remains the greatest economic and military power in world history, and its collapse will touch literally everyone in the world.

From Salon

“Atlanta” built a Lynchian house for its “Teddy Perkins” episode, perching a namesake character buried under prosthetics within its dim innards.

From Salon

Related Words

• guts www.thesaurus.com
• insides