inside out
Idioms-
With the inner surface turned out or revealed, as in He wore his shirt inside out . This expression dates from about 1600 and was soon used figuratively, as in He turned the verses inside out and revealed their hidden sense .
-
Extremely well, thoroughly, especially alluding to knowing something. For example, He knows this system inside out . [First half of 1900s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She woke only to cough, a miserable gut-wrenching cough, as if she was trying to turn herself inside out.
From Literature
He pulled his hand, in a fist with the gum inside, out of his pocket.
From Literature
No matter what I put on, it felt backward, inside out, and two sizes too small.
From Literature
Leonardo arrives in Florence to find a city turned inside out.
From Literature
With all visual stimulus removed, the blackness feels larger than my head, as though my cranial cavity has turned inside out.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
