Sekirov Dictionary

gutter

UK /ˈɡʌt.ə/US /ˈɡʌt.ɚ/

noun 14
verb 7
adjective 1
forms 5
phrases 1

noun14

•
A prepared channel in a surface, especially at the side of a road adjacent to a curb, intended for the drainage of water.
- They a not so clean as they might be, since the water [is] carried off by only one gutter, in the centre of t[he] street — 1836
•
A ditch along the side of a road.
- In nearly all of the towns the gutters are filled with vegetation, or have been neglected for so long a time that the roadway becomes its own drainage bed. — 1902
•
A duct or channel beneath the eaves of a building to carry rain water; eavestrough.
- The gutters must be cleared of leaves a few times a year.
A large groove (commonly behind animals) in a barn used for the collection and removal of animal excrement.
A drainage channel.
The notional locus of things, acts, or events that are distasteful, ill-bred, or morally questionable.
•
(figurative) A low, vulgar state.
- Get your mind out of the gutter.
- What kind of gutter language is that? I ought to wash your mouth out with soap.
•
A groove down the sides of a bowling lane.
- You can decide to use the bumpers to avoid the ball going down the gutter every time.
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.
An unprinted space between rows of stamps.
A space between comic strip panels.
•
One who or that which guts.
- A Galilean Rabbi? When did this Province of diggers in dirt and gutters of fish send forth Rabbis? Thou makest a jest. — 1921
One of a number of pieces of wood or metal, grooved in the centre, used to separate the pages of type in a form.

verb7

To flow or stream; to form gutters.
•
To flicker as if about to be extinguished.
- The light in his eyes guttered like a candle in a mighty wind and finally went out. She had no time to grieve[…] — 2020
To melt away by having the molten wax run down along the side of the candle.
To send (a bowling ball) into the gutter, not hitting any pins.
•
To worsen considerably.
- The students' performance guttered after the school event.
- The patient's state would soon gutter.
•
To supply with a gutter or gutters.
- A narrow flooring, guttered, walled, and tiled. — 1697
•
To cut or form into small longitudinal hollows; to channel.
- The gutter'd-Rockes, and Congregated Sands, — 1603

adjective1

•
(disapproving, figurative) Vulgar, sordid, or low-class.
- The "greatest" controversy came when Farrakhan was accused of calling Judaism a "gutter religion". Farrakhan says he never used the word "gutter." — 1996

forms

guttered · guttering · gutters · more gutter · most gutter

Phrases with gutter

gutter out
Of a light source, to become extinguished.

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