gutter

[guht-er]

noun

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

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

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

4. a furrow or channel made by running water.

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

6. the state or abode of those who live in degradation, squalor, etc..

   the language of the gutter.

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

verb (used without object)

1. to flow in streams.

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

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

4. to form gutters, as water does.

verb (used with object)

1. to make gutters in; channel.

2. to furnish with a gutter or gutters.

   to gutter a new house.

gutter

/ ˈɡʌtə /

noun

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

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

3. a trench running beside a canal lined with clay puddle

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

5. printing

   1. the space between two pages in a forme

   2. the white space between the facing pages of an open book

   3. the space between two columns of type

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

7. surfing a dangerous deep channel formed by currents and waves

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

9. a poverty-stricken, degraded, or criminal environment

verb

1. (tr) to make gutters in

2. (intr) to flow in a stream or rivulet

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

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

Other Word Forms

• gutterlike adjective
• gutter-like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of gutter¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English gutter, goter, from Old French go(u)tiere, equivalent to goutte “drop” + -iere, feminine of -ier; gout, -er ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of gutter¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

see in the gutter.

Example Sentences

Having visited several years ago, I was struck by the smell of urine from the gutters that line the cell blocks.

Read more on BBC

He made a big wager on natural gas when prices were in the gutter, and he has funded Comstock’s exploration at a time when its rivals are sticking with Wall Street’s strict capital edicts.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Then there’s the basic issue of trash, which ranges from discarded fast food wrappers lining gutters to illegal dumping problems in Watts, Wilmington and other neighborhoods.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"I'm not sure where to look, I look into the gutter," says Sally.

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Sarwar said it was a good preview of what might happen in next May's Holyrood election, demonstrating both "the gutter politics and bile of Reform" and the "cheap and cynical politics of the SNP".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• culvert 
• dike 
• duct 
• eaves 
• pipe 
• sewer 
• tube