gutter

[ guht-er ]

/ ˈgʌt ər /

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See synonyms for: gutter / guttered / guttering on Thesaurus.com

noun

a channel at the side or in the middle of a road or street, for leading off surface water.

a channel at the eaves or on the roof of a building, for carrying off rainwater.

any channel, trough, or the like for carrying off fluid.

a furrow or channel made by running water.

Bowling. a sunken channel extending along each side of a bowling lane, to catch balls that stray over the edge.

the state or abode of those who live in degradation, squalor, etc.: the language of the gutter.

the white space formed by the inner margins of two facing pages in a bound book, magazine, or newspaper.

verb (used without object)

to flow in streams.

(of a candle) to lose molten wax accumulated in a hollow space around the wick.

(of a lamp or candle flame) to burn low or to be blown so as to be nearly extinguished.

to form gutters, as water does.

verb (used with object)

to make gutters in; channel.

to furnish with a gutter or gutters: to gutter a new house.

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Origin of gutter

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English gutter, goter, from Old French go(u)tiere, equivalent to goutte “drop” + -iere, feminine of -ier; see origin at gout,-er²

OTHER WORDS FROM gutter

gut·ter·like, adjective

Words nearby gutter

gutta-percha, guttate, guttatim, guttation, gutted, gutter, gutter ball, guttering, gutter press, guttersnipe, guttiform

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use gutter in a sentence

Yes, you might have to recharge your blower—but odds are your gutters aren’t going to need hours of power to get things clean.
Best leaf blower to tame your wild yard|empire|July 20, 2021|Popular-Science
For example, single family homes would pay a flat fee, no matter how well built they were to send the water into the ground instead of out into the gutter.
Politics Report: Cori Schumacher Resigns Abruptly|Scott Lewis|July 10, 2021|Voice of San Diego
The other day, I watched as one of the parents perched on one of our gutters, a worm hanging from its beak.
On the house: Wrens are nesting in my backyard bird box. I couldn’t be happier.|John Kelly|July 7, 2021|Washington Post
Replacing your gutters may cost you a little more than planting flowers and painting your door, however, it will go a long way in your home’s curb appeal.
Boosting your curb appeal for summer selling 2021|Khalil Alexander El-Ghoul|May 21, 2021|Washington Blade

Vinyl gutter systems are less expensive but are infamous for cracking over time in our cold weather.
Boosting your curb appeal for summer selling 2021|Khalil Alexander El-Ghoul|May 21, 2021|Washington Blade
He piles the trash into the can and stands in the gutter, waiting for the light to change.
Stanley Booth on the Life and Hard Times of Blues Genius Furry Lewis|Stanley Booth|June 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Speaking with The Tottenville Review, Foy calls his school of writing “gutter opera.”
Novelist D. Foy Dubs His Debut ‘Gutter Opera’ And Who Are We To Argue?|J.T. Price|May 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But all publications seem to go to the gutter when it comes to Lewinsky.
Stop Slut-Shaming Monica Lewinsky!|Emily Shire|May 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But I reserve the distinction for gutter dwelling and otherwise abhorrent behavior to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Lack of Civility is Destroying Washington D.C.|Ron Christie|April 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Davis begins the film, punched by an aggressor into the gutter and ends it the same way.
Why No Oscar Love For 'Inside Llewyn Davis'?|Tim Teeman|January 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A drunken man would reel from one side to the other until he fell down a cellar trap-door, into the gutter, or into the sea.
Skipper Worse|Alexander Lange Kielland
And to think that those documents are perhaps lying in the gutter at this very moment!
The Weight of the Crown|Fred M. White
He was in a dreadful condition—a soiled and hopeless mass from the gutter out of which he had been rescued.
The Woman Gives|Owen Johnson
At the doors people sit drinking round tables placed on the pavement or in the rank, poisonous gutter.
Belgium|George W. T. (George William Thomson) Omond
He had been drunk over in town, and laid in the gutter all night, and he was a sight to look at.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

British Dictionary definitions for gutter

gutter

/ (ˈɡʌtə) /

noun

a channel along the eaves or on the roof of a building, used to collect and carry away rainwater

a channel running along the kerb or the centre of a road to collect and carry away rainwater

a trench running beside a canal lined with clay puddle

either of the two channels running parallel to a tenpin bowling lane

printing

the space between two pages in a forme
the white space between the facing pages of an open book
the space between two columns of type

the space left between stamps on a sheet in order to separate them

surfing a dangerous deep channel formed by currents and waves

Australian (in gold-mining) the channel of a former watercourse that is now a vein of gold

the gutter a poverty-stricken, degraded, or criminal environment

verb

(tr) to make gutters in

(intr) to flow in a stream or rivulet

(intr) (of a candle) to melt away by the wax forming channels and running down in drops

(intr) (of a flame) to flicker and be about to go out

Derived forms of gutter

gutter-like, adjective

Word Origin for gutter

C13: from Anglo-French goutiere, from Old French goute a drop, from Latin gutta

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with gutter

gutter

see in the gutter.

gutter

Origin of gutter

OTHER WORDS FROM gutter

Words nearby gutter

Words related to gutter

How to use gutter in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for gutter

Derived forms of gutter

Word Origin for gutter

Other Idioms and Phrases with gutter