Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Located inside; inner.
  • adjective Directed or moving toward the interior.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or existing in the thoughts or mind.
  • adjective Intimate; familiar.
  • adverb Toward the inside, center, or interior.
  • adverb Toward the mind or the self.
  • noun An inner or central part.
  • noun An inner essence or spirit.
  • noun Entrails; innards.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Toward the inside; toward the interior or center.
  • Into the mind or soul.
  • Situated or being within; pertaining to the interior or internal parts: as, the inward parts of a person or of a country.
  • Pertaining to or connected with the intimate thoughts or feelings of the soul.
  • . Intimate; familiar; confidential; private.
  • Deep; low; muffled; half-audible: as, he spoke in an inward voice.
  • noun The inside; especially, in the plural, the inner parts of an animal; the bowels; the viscera.
  • noun plural Mental endowments; intellectual parts.
  • noun An intimate.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb Toward the inside; toward the center or interior.
  • adverb Into, or toward, the mind or thoughts; inwardly.
  • noun That which is inward or within; especially, in the plural, the inner parts or organs of the body; the viscera.
  • noun obsolete The mental faculties; -- usually pl.
  • noun obsolete An intimate or familiar friend or acquaintance.
  • adjective Being or placed within; inner; interior; -- opposed to outward.
  • adjective Seated in the mind, heart, spirit, or soul.
  • adjective obsolete Intimate; domestic; private.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete That which is inward or within; the inner parts or organs of the body; the viscera.
  • noun obsolete The mental faculties.
  • noun obsolete A familiar friend or acquaintance.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb toward the center or interior
  • adjective directed or moving inward or toward a center
  • adverb to or toward the inside of
  • adjective relating to or existing in the mind or thoughts

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English inweard; see wer- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English inneweard, corresponding to in +‎ -ward.

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Examples

  • Mental Consciousness, because he recognizes an inward self, and is turning his attention _inward_.

    A Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga William Walker Atkinson 1897

  • Now, since the current always runs from the positive to the negative pole, and makes its whole circuit in that direction, it will be readily seen that, from the place on the patient where the positive pole is applied, inward as far as to the central point, the direction of the current may properly be said to be _inward_; and that, from the central point to the place of the negative electrode, where the current comes out, its direction may be said to be _outward_.

    A Newly Discovered System of Electrical Medication Daniel Clark

  • I shall therefore use the term inward instigation of the

    Warranted Christian Belief 1932- 2000

  • To assert and justify a thing which you call inward, real righteousness and holiness.

    Works of John Bunyan — Volume 02 John Bunyan 1658

  • Mohler apparently thinks that looking inward is looking in the wrong direction: "Believers are called to meditate upon the Word of God -- an external Word that comes to us by divine revelation -- not to meditate by means of incomprehensible syllables."

    Sena Jeter Naslund: Beginning Again With Adam & Eve Sena Jeter Naslund 2010

  • Mohler apparently thinks that looking inward is looking in the wrong direction: "Believers are called to meditate upon the Word of God -- an external Word that comes to us by divine revelation -- not to meditate by means of incomprehensible syllables."

    Sena Jeter Naslund: Beginning Again With Adam & Eve Sena Jeter Naslund 2010

  • Mohler apparently thinks that looking inward is looking in the wrong direction: "Believers are called to meditate upon the Word of God -- an external Word that comes to us by divine revelation -- not to meditate by means of incomprehensible syllables."

    Sena Jeter Naslund: Beginning Again With Adam & Eve Sena Jeter Naslund 2010

  • Mohler apparently thinks that looking inward is looking in the wrong direction: "Believers are called to meditate upon the Word of God -- an external Word that comes to us by divine revelation -- not to meditate by means of incomprehensible syllables."

    Sena Jeter Naslund: Beginning Again With Adam & Eve Sena Jeter Naslund 2010

  • “They were designed to take in inward pressure from a blast event, which apparently they did: [Before the collapse] the blinds were still stacked neatly behind the window glass.”

    Think Progress » VIDEO: Rumsfeld Confronted By Soldier Over Equipment Shortages In Iraq 2006

  • Freud noted that anger turned inward is depression, so it must do some good to let it out in some fashion.

    April 2006 2006

Comments

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  • introspective, close off

    September 20, 2010

  • introspective, close off

    September 20, 2010