gut
noun
the alimentary canal, especially between the pylorus and the anus, or some portion of it.
gut
1 American
[guht]
/ gʌt /
noun
-
guts
plural
-
the alimentary canal, especially between the pylorus and the anus, or some portion of it.
-
guts,
-
bowels or entrails.
-
Informal. courage and fortitude; nerve; determination; stamina.
Climbing that cliff takes a lot of guts.
-
the inner working parts of a machine or device.
The mechanic had the guts of the refrigerator laid out on the kitchen floor.
-
-
the belly; stomach; abdomen.
-
the substance forming the case of the intestine; intestinal tissue or fiber.
sheep's gut.
-
a preparation of the intestines of an animal, used for various purposes, as for violin strings, tennis rackets, or fishing lines.
-
the silken substance taken from a silkworm killed when about to spin its cocoon, used in making snells for fishhooks.
-
a narrow passage, as a channel of water or a defile between hills.
-
Slang. Also gut course snap course.
verb (used with object)
-
guts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gutted,
past participle, past
-
gutting
present participle
-
to take out the guts or entrails of; disembowel.
-
to destroy the interior of.
Fire gutted the building.
-
to plunder (a house, city, etc.) of contents.
Invaders gutted the village.
-
to remove the vital or essential parts from.
The prisoner's letters were gutted by heavy censorship.
adjective
idioms
GUT
2
American
Physics.
gut
1
British
/ ɡʌt /
noun
-
-
the lower part of the alimentary canal; intestine
-
the entire alimentary canal
-
-
(often plural) the bowels or entrails, esp of an animal
-
slang the belly; paunch
-
See catgut
-
a silky fibrous substance extracted from silkworms, used in the manufacture of fishing tackle
-
a narrow channel or passage
-
informal (plural) courage, willpower, or daring; forcefulness
-
informal (plural) the essential part
the guts of a problem
-
informal to make an intense effort
-
informal to be extremely angry with someone
-
informal to dislike a person very strongly
-
informal to work very hard
verb
-
to remove the entrails from (fish, etc)
-
(esp of fire) to destroy the inside of (a building)
-
to plunder; despoil
the raiders gutted the city
-
to take out the central points of (an article), esp in summary form
adjective
GUT
2
British
/ ɡʌt /
acronym
gut
1
Scientific
/ gŭt /
-
The intestine of a vertebrate animal.
-
The alimentary canal of an invertebrate animal.
-
The tube in a vertebrate embryo that later develops into the alimentary canal, lungs, and liver.
GUT
2
Scientific
gut
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
gutsimple
-
gutssimple
-
have guttedperfect
-
has guttedperfect
-
am guttingprogressive
-
are guttingprogressive
-
is guttingprogressive
-
have been guttingperfect progressive
-
has been guttingperfect progressive
Past
-
guttedsimple
-
had guttedperfect
-
was guttingprogressive
-
were guttingprogressive
-
had been guttingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gut
First recorded before 1000; Middle English gut, guttes (plural), Old English guttas (plural), akin to gēotan “to pour”
Explanation
Your gut is part of your digestive system — it's where food goes after you eat it, to get broken down into nutrients and waste. The expression to "go with your gut" means to follow your instincts, how you feel in your belly. Your gut is quite literally your intestines, although the word is frequently used for any part of your digestive system, especially your stomach. Eating too much ice cream can give you an ache in your gut. When gut is a verb, it means to clean the internal organs out of a fish or other animal you intend to eat, or to completely empty a building. Colloquially, if you have guts, you're very brave.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For nearly two decades, scientists have known that a common gut bacterium can produce a toxin that damages the colon and helps drive the formation of tumors.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026
He said he had a "gut feeling" that it was the best approach, but the team had insisted on a prep lap and had fuelled the car for the extra mileage.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
Fibre is essential for your gut to work properly and helps prevent constipation.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
“If you see something that makes you want to pack your bags, follow that gut — but do research, as well.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
Scoob gulps, and that nervous rock reappears in his gut, tripled in size.
From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone
“You manage a baseball game with your EYES, HEART, & GUT as well as your BRAIN,” Blevins posted.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 27, 2020
If the GUT approach is right, the average decay time in question is far longer than the age of the universe itself.
From Economist ● Jan. 11, 2018
The model of the car was unknown, according to the police call, but its plates included the letters and numbers GUT 18053.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 15, 2015
This transition from GUT to electroweak is an example of spontaneous symmetry breaking, in which conditions spontaneously evolved to a point where the forces were no longer unified, breaking that symmetry.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
The bringing up of the boys he deigned to approve of: 'FAST SO GUT WIE EIN BAUER,' was his trenchant criticism.
From Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson
But after a dinner party, the house was left "in a complete mess" with broken glasses, drinks cans on the floor, pans full of food on the table and fish guts left in the garden.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
The acquisition expands CBRE’s business of delivering the guts of data centers, reflecting real estate’s growing reliance on the tech cycle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Only Pamela Voorhees, brought to life by Linda Cardellini in “Crystal Lake,” has the guts to act on that impulse.
From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026
"I didn't write this novel with my head, but with my guts and my heart," he told AFP recently.
From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026
It’s been a long, hot day, and I know I smell just like the fish guts being picked at by the gulls.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Some 400 people bought shares to acquire the gutted building for £180,000.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Amber said: "It's gutted us mentally, emotionally, physically, financially, I don't know what we can do apart from get this story out and have people learn from our mistake."
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
"I feel gutted basically because this is damage that has happened in recent years."
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
Like that gutted TV cabinet, his sad eyes are a window into the sensitive boy inside the grown man.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
I whirled, still moving by reflex, back-tracking and stopped and now there was another and another, seven-all hanging before a gutted storefront.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
"It is a bit gutting, because I was so excited until they announced the new rules coming in, it's hard to believe how big of a change it is going to be," he added.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Damon’s Odysseus is numbed by the massacre of Troy’s civilians; Fiennes’ hates himself for leading the best men of Ithaca to their death, gutting his own community in the heedless destruction of another.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
In all, Alico began gutting 53,000 citrus acres at the end of the 2025 harvest: 35 percent of Florida’s citrus production, condemned in one press release.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
He once attacked a federal appeals court for gutting one of his cases, violating taboos against getting personal and criticizing judges.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 7, 2026
When gutting the trailer to make room, I left one tank in place for this.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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