viscera

Meanings

1. 1nounplural

   The soft organs inside the body, such as the stomach, liver, and intestines, especially in the abdomen.

   Grammar: Plural: the viscera are removed.

   Patterns

   • the viscera of something

   The surgeon examined the viscera.

   The viscera lie inside the abdominal cavity.

   Birds' viscera are lighter than those of mammals.

2. 2nounpluralliteraryfigurative

   The deepest feelings or inner parts of something, as opposed to the surface.

   Grammar: Literary and figurative.

   Patterns

   • the viscera of something

   The film grips the viscera of fear.

   He dug into the viscera of the project.

   The writing reaches the viscera of grief.

Word forms

Common combinations

abdominal viscera

The scan showed the abdominal viscera.

remove the viscera

Hunters remove the viscera first.

thoracic viscera

Thoracic viscera include the heart.

injury to the viscera

Injury to the viscera can be serious.

Synonyms and how they differ

organs

Organs is the general word, while viscera means specifically the inner organs.

entrails

Entrails is more casual and graphic, often about animals.

innards

Innards is informal and also used for machines.

guts

Guts is slang and may suggest the intestines only.

Word family

visceral adjective

relating to inner organs or deep instinctive feeling

viscerally adverb

in a deep, gut-level way

eviscerate verb

to remove the organs from

evisceration noun

the removal of internal organs

Commonly confused: viscera or viscose?

Practice

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