under the hood

English

Etymology

Referring to the hood (bonnet) of a motor vehicle, which covers the engine.

Prepositional phrase

under the hood

1. (figurative) Beneath the surface; in its internal workings.

   Internet search engines are easy to use, but there's a lot going on under the hood.

   • 2010 September 2, Niraj Chokshi, “The Stagnant History of the Browser Interface: A Retrospective”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     Under the hood, Mosaic is primitive by today's standards, but it's design is recognizable. Sure, it's all black, white and gray with flat buttons, but it would take absolutely no time to adjust to it.

   • 2022 March 4, Mike Channell, “Gran Turismo 7 review – the ultimate racing game is fresh and comfortingly familiar”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     There have been some tweaks under the hood, as you would expect, and one major alteration that will probably divide fans, but this 25-year-old motor is very much still running.

Translations

beneath the surface

• French: sous le capot (fr)

Further reading

• “under the hood”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.