inner workings
How it operates
The inner workings of something are its internal mechanisms or processes—the parts that make it function but aren't visible from outside.
The phrase applies to machines, organizations, minds, or systems: She understood the inner workings of the engine, The documentary revealed the inner workings of the campaign.
It suggests complexity hidden beneath a simpler exterior.
Concealed information
- concealedMade invisible deliberately
- behind the scenesOut of public view
- undisclosedNot made known
- obscureUnknown to most
veiled · invisible · latent · buried · covert · clandestine · shrouded · private
Toothed rotating machine parts
- cogsProjections on a wheel
- componentsConstituent parts
- machineryCollective mechanical equipment
- clockworkSpring-driven gear system
pulleys · levers · springs · pistons · bearings · camshaft · crankshaft · sprockets
Elaborately detailed, many parts
- labyrinthineExtremely complex and winding
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- interwovenLaced through one another
- nuancedHaving fine distinctions
sophisticated · elaborate · complicated · multifaceted · byzantine · tangled · delicate · interconnected
Building design discipline
- infrastructureBasic physical systems
- frameworkUnderlying support system
- structureArrangement of interconnected parts
- networkInterconnected system
integration · hierarchy · configuration · protocol · schematic · blueprint · organization · modularity
secrets
Concealed information
- concealedMade invisible deliberately
- behind the scenesOut of public view
- undisclosedNot made known
obscure · veiled · invisible · latent · buried · covert · clandestine · shrouded · private · confidential
gears
Toothed rotating machine parts
- cogsProjections on a wheel
- componentsConstituent parts
- machineryCollective mechanical equipment
clockwork · pulleys · levers · springs · pistons · bearings · camshaft · crankshaft · sprockets · transmission
intricate
Elaborately detailed, many parts
- labyrinthineExtremely complex and winding
- convolutedExcessively complex or twisted
- interwovenLaced through one another
nuanced · sophisticated · elaborate · complicated · multifaceted · byzantine · tangled · delicate · interconnected · entangled
architecture
Building design discipline
- infrastructureBasic physical systems
- frameworkUnderlying support system
- structureArrangement of interconnected parts
network · integration · hierarchy · configuration · protocol · schematic · blueprint · organization · modularity · interoperability
- machineryengine, machinery, industrial machinery, motors, engines
- innerinward, internal, within, interior, inside
- inner workingsguts, core, kernel, wiring, circuitry
- particularsdetails, specifics, particulars, minutiae, nuances
- Behind the Scenesbackstage, stunt double, body double, understudy, stand-in
- fundamentalsbasics, fundamentals, essentials, foundation, ABCs
inner workingshousing
Dwellings or protective covering
outer layer · surface layer · periphery · envelope · wrapper
inner, innermost, workings, internally, internalize, inwardness, interiority