gut check

British  

noun

1. a pause to assess the state, progress, or condition of something such as an enterprise or institution

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Example Sentences

While the news merits a gut check, foreign stocks still look like bargains worth picking up.

From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026

Major U.S. importers are facing off against the world’s largest ocean carriers in an early gut check for trade in 2026.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026

Their popularity has even gripped Wall Street, where investors and strategists increasingly rely on their odds as a kind of gut check.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 8, 2025

The past few weeks of stock market whipsawing have been a gut check for internet communities that swelled in numbers during the usually excellent markets of the past five years.

From Slate • Mar. 17, 2025

Yes, it is a gut check, a test of how much Kevin Whitworth wants to play this game.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger