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Outside vs Outward - What's the difference?

outside | outward |

As adjectives the difference between outside and outward

is that outside is of or pertaining to the outer surface, limit or boundary while outward is outer; located towards the outside.

As adverbs the difference between outside and outward

is that outside is on or towards the outside while outward is towards the outside; away from the centre.

As a noun outside

is the part of something that faces out; the outer surface.

As a preposition outside

is on the outside of.

As a proper noun Outside

is to residents of Alaska, the rest of the United States, especially the contiguous 48 states south of Canada.

As a verb outward is

to ward off; to keep out.

outside

English

Alternative forms

* (l) (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • The part of something that faces out; the outer surface.
  • * 1653 , (Thomas Urquhart) (translator), , , "The Author's Prologue to the First Book"
    • Silenes of old were little boxes, like those we now may see in the shops of apothecaries, painted on the outside with wanton toyish figures, as harpies, satyrs, bridled geese, horned hares, saddled ducks, flying goats, thiller harts, and other such-like counterfeited pictures at discretion, ...
  • * 1890 , (Jacob Riis), ,
    • The outside of the building gives no valuable clew.
  • * 1911 , '', article in '' ,
    • The number of persons which the cab is licensed to carry must be painted at the back on the outside .
  • The external appearance of something.
  • The space beyond some limit or boundary.
  • * (rfdate) Spectator
    • I threw open the door of my chamber, and found the family standing on the outside .
  • * 1967 , (The Bee Gees), ,
    • Have you seen my wife, Mr Jones? / Do you know what it's like on the outside ?
  • * 1982 , (Anne Dudley), (Trevor Horn), (Malcolm Mclaren), (Buffalo Gals)
    • Four buffalo gals go 'round the outside' / 'Round the '''outside''' / 'Round the '''outside''' / Four buffalo gals go 'round the ' outside / And do-si-do your partners.
  • The furthest limit, as to number, quantity, extent, etc.
    • It may last a week at the outside .
  • (dated, UK, colloquial) A passenger riding on the outside of a coach or carriage.
  • * (rfdate) (Charles Dickens), (The Pickwick Papers)
    • The outsides' did as ' outsides always do. They were very cheerful and talkative at the beginning of every stage, and very dismal and sleepy in the middle

    Usage notes

    * Rarely used with an .

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Of or pertaining to the outer surface, limit or boundary.
    • The outside surface looks good.
  • * 1901 , ,
    • Household drudgery, woodcutting, milking, and gardening soon roughen the hands and dim the outside polish.
  • * 1921 , Ernest Leopold Ahrons, ,
    • The tyres, which come from the steel manufacturers, are rolled without weld. They are bored inside to an internal diameter slightly less than the outside diameter of the wheel centre, on to which they have to be shrunk, the allowance being about 1/1000 of the diameter of the wheel centre.
  • Of, pertaining to or originating from beyond the outer surface, limit or boundary.
  • * 1938 (believed written c.1933), ,
    • Dogs had a fear of me, for they felt the outside shadow which never left my side.
  • * 1976 , ,
    • It is the witness to your state of mind, the outside picture of an inward condition.
  • * 1993 September 3, ,
    • Nor did they consult with outside persons in religious studies, sociology of religion, or psychology of religion.
  • (baseball, of a pitch) Away (far) from the batter as it crosses home plate.
    • The first pitch is ... just a bit outside .
  • Reaching the extreme or farthest limit, as to extent, quantity, etc.
    • an outside estimate

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (rfc-sense) On or towards the outside.
  • *
    • Jurgis waited outside and walked home with Marija.
  • Outdoors.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=14 citation , passage=Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside , a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.}}

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • (rfc-sense) On the outside of.
  • * 1890 , ,
    • It never happens outside of the story-books that a baby so deserted finds home and friends at once.
  • * 1891 , ,
    • "Don't think of what's past!" said she. "I am not going to think outside of now. Why should we! Who knows what to-morrow has in store?"
  • * 1919' June 28, the '', Part IV—German Rights and Interests ' outside Germany,
    • In territory outside her European frontiers as fixed by the present Treaty, Germany renounces all rights, titles and privileges whatever in or over territory which belonged to her or to her allies, and all rights, titles and privileges whatever their origin which she held as against the Allied and Associated Powers.
  • * 1982 , ,
    • There is jurisdiction over an offense under section 601 committed outside the United States if the individual committing the offense is a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence (as defined in section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act).
  • *
    • Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.
  • Near, but not in.
  • * 1898 , ,
    • Up the hill Richmond town was burning briskly; outside the town of Richmond there was no trace of the Black Smoke.
  • * 2002 , , Bookends , 2003 trade paperback edition, ISBN 0767907817, outside back cover:
    • Jane Green lives outside New York City with her husband and children.
  • * 2010 December, Patricia Corrigan, "Beyond Congregations", OY!'' (magazine section), ''St. Louis Jewish Light , volume 63, number 50, page 24:
    • Kastner lives in University City with his wife, Leslie Cohen, who works for the Jewish Federation, and their 17-month-old old(SIC) son. Kastner grew up outside Cleveland.
  • Except, apart from.
    • Outside of winning the lottery, the only way to succeed is through many years of hard work.

    Antonyms

    * inside

    Related terms

    * bring outside * just a bit outside * outside back * outside caliper * outside centre * outside chance * outside director * outside edge * outside gross area * outside loop * outside market * outside mirror * outside of * outside the box * outside world * outsider

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * English heteronyms English prepositions 1000 English basic words

    outward

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl), from (etyl)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • outer; located towards the outside
  • visible, noticeable
    • By all outward indications, he's a normal happy child, but if you talk to him, you will soon realize he has some psychological problems.
  • Tending to the exterior or outside.
  • * Dryden
    • The fire will force its outward way.
  • (obsolete) Foreign; not civil or intestine.
    • an outward war
    (Hayward)

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Towards the outside; away from the centre.
  • :We are outward bound.
  • *Shakespeare
  • *:The wrong side may be turned outward .
  • (obsolete) Outwardly, in outer appearances; publicly.
  • *:
  • *:ANd thenne the quene lete make a preuy dyner in london vnto the kny?tes of the round table / and al was for to shewe outward that she had as grete Ioye in al other knyghtes of the table round as she had in sir launcelot / al only at that dyner she had sir Gawayne and his bretheren
    • Synonyms
    * outwards
    Derived terms
    * outwardness

    Etymology 2

    From .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete, rare) To ward off; to keep out.
  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , V.1:
    • Ne any armour could his dint out-ward ; / But wheresoever it did light, it throughly shard.

    Anagrams

    * *