gutter

Plural: gutters

Noun

• a channel along the eaves or on the roof; collects and carries away rainwater
• misfortune resulting in lost effort or money
  • "his career was in the gutter"
• a worker who guts things (fish or buildings or cars etc.)
• a tool for gutting fish
• A prepared channel in a surface, especially at the side of a road adjacent to a curb, intended for the drainage of water.
• A ditch along the side of a road.
• A duct or channel beneath the eaves of a building to carry rain water; eavestrough.
• A groove down the sides of a bowling lane.
• A large groove (commonly behind animals) in a barn used for the collection and removal of animal excrement.
• Any narrow channel or groove, such as one formed by erosion in the vent of a gun from repeated firing.
• A space between printed columns of text.
• One of a number of pieces of wood or metal, grooved in the centre, used to separate the pages of type in a form.
• An unprinted space between rows of stamps.
• A drainage channel.
• The notional locus of things, acts, or events that are distasteful, ill-bred, or morally questionable.
• A low, vulgar state.
• A space between comic strip panels.
• One who or that which guts.

Verb

Verb Forms: guttered, guttering, gutters

• To form channels for draining water; to melt and flow away.
• burn unsteadily, feebly, or low; flicker
  • "The cooling lava continued to gutter toward lower ground"
• flow in small streams
  • "Tears guttered down her face"
• wear or cut gutters into
  • "The heavy rain guttered the soil"
• provide with gutters
  • "gutter the buildings"
• To flow or stream; to form gutters.
• To melt away by having the molten wax run down along the side of the candle.
• To flicker as if about to be extinguished.
• To send (a bowling ball) into the gutter, not hitting any pins.
• To supply with a gutter or gutters.
• To cut or form into small longitudinal hollows; to channel.
• To make worse; to show emphasis that something has gotten worse.

Examples

• Get your mind out of the gutter.
• His lead began to gutter as his opponent found multiple bingo opportunities.
• The gutters must be cleared of leaves a few times a year.
• The patient's state would soon gutter.
• The students' performance guttered after the school event.
• What kind of gutter language is that? I ought to wash your mouth out with soap.
• You can decide to use the bumpers to avoid the ball going down the gutter every time.

Synonyms

sewer, toilet, trough, cloam

Related Words

gout

Anagrams of gutter