INWARDS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does inwards mean? 

• INWARDS (adverb)
  The adverb INWARDS has 2 senses:

1. to or toward the inside of

2. toward the center or interior

  Familiarity information: INWARDS used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INWARDS (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

To or toward the inside of

Synonyms:

in; inward; inwards

Context example:

smash in the door

Sense 2

Meaning:

Toward the center or interior

Synonyms:

inward; inwards

Context example:

move the needle further inwards!

 Context examples 

As the strong gravity of Sgr A* pulls clumps of material inwards, tidal forces stretch the clumps as they get closer to the black hole.

(Scientists Take Viewers to the Center of the Milky Way, NASA)

These cold molecules, with temperatures as low as minus 250–260°C, were found to be falling inwards to the black hole.

(ALMA and MUSE Detect Galactic Fountain, ESO)

I think it may be fairly assumed that if it does not come outwards it must run inwards.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He stood with his feet close together, his knees bent outwards, ready for a dash inwards or a spring out.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They are in turn thought to be driven by the presence of supermassive black holes, which drag surrounding material inwards and spit out bright jets and radiation as they do so.

(Hubble's Megamaser Galaxy, ESA/NASA)

Up went the axe again, and again the panels crashed and the frame bounded; four times the blow fell; but the wood was tough and the fittings were of excellent workmanship; and it was not until the fifth, that the lock burst and the wreck of the door fell inwards on the carpet.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

This may be a solution to a theoretical conundrum called the final parsec problem, in which two supermassive black holes can approach to within a few light-years of each other but would need some extra pull inwards to merge because of the excess energy they carry in their orbits.

(Three Black Holes on Collision Course, NASA)

Then it slowly drew inwards and disappeared.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It seemed to the young Englishman that he had never seen so hideous a face, for the eyes were of the lightest green, the nose was broken and driven inwards, while the whole countenance was seared and puckered with wounds.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But, however that may be, I should expect to find the surface of the plateau slope inwards with a considerable sheet of water in the center, which may drain off, by some subterranean channel, into the marshes of the Jaracaca Swamp.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)