I. ˈgəd.ə(r), ˈgətə- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English goter, guter, gotere, gutere, from Old French gotiere, goutiere eaves, eaves trough, fr gote, goute drop — more at gout
1.
a. archaic : watercourse , brook
b. : a channel or gully worn by running water
2. : something forming or intended to form a channel: as
a. : a groove at an eaves or a usually metal trough under an eaves to catch rainwater and carry it off (as to a downspout)
b. : a low area, course, ditch, or furrow (as at a roadside) to carry off surface water (as to a sewer)
c. : a V-shaped trough used in turpentining for guiding the turpentine into a cup
d. : a trough-shaped course behind the animals in a cattle barn into which dung and other wastes drop
e. : a grooved piece extending over the windows and doors of an automobile to catch and carry off water
f. : a depression or narrow trough on each side of a bowling alley to catch balls that roll off
g. : a depressed furrow between body parts (as on the surface between a pair of adjacent ribs or in the dorsal wall of the body cavity on either side of the vertebral column)
h. : fireline 2c
3.
a. : gutter stick
b. : a space between adjoining long sides at right angles to the foot of 4-page sections in a printing form
c. : the space in a form that produces the inside margins of a printed page ; also : the white space formed by the adjoining inside margins of two facing pages (as of a book or magazine)
d. : river 4
4. : the lowest most vulgar level or condition of usually urban civilization
raised in the gutter and condemned to a life of crime
slang right out of the gutter
5. Australia : the dry bed of a river of Tertiary age containing alluvial gold — called also bottom
6. : the space between the barriers and sides of a cabinet in which electric wiring is concealed
7. : backflash 3
8. : the wide space between the panes of an uncut sheet of stamps
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English guteren, from guter, gutere, n.
transitive verb
1. : to cut or wear furrows or channels in
a heavy rain guttering the plowed field
2. : to provide with a gutter
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to flow in rivulets
tears guttered down her cheeks
b. of a candle : to melt away by reason of a channel forming on the side of the cup hollowed out by the burning wick so that the melted wax runs off rapidly
2.
a. : to incline downward in a draft of wind — used of a candle or lamp flame
b. : to burn feebly
torch of … liberty guttered low — F.V.W.Mason
III. adjective
Etymology: gutter (I)
: of, relating to, or befitting the gutter
a gutter urchin
especially : marked by extreme vulgarity, cheapness, or indecency
gutter profanity
gutter journalism
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: gut (II) + -er
: a worker who cuts or pulls the guts from animals or fish or one who operates a machine that removes heads, tails, and guts from fish