I. ˈgət, usu -əd.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English guttas (plural); akin to Old English gyte action of pouring, Middle Dutch gote gutter, Old High German guz action of pouring, Old English gēotan to pour — more at found
1.
a.
(1) : bowels, entrails — usually used in plural
chicken guts rank high among good catfish baits — J.R.Harlan & E.B.Speaker
felt their guts contract with fear — Barnaby Conrad
(2) : intestine
see whether an amebicide acts directly on the amoeba or on commensal organisms in the gut — Lancet
(3) : the alimentary canal or cavity or the portion from the stomach down — usually used in plural
would feel hunger nudging my ribs, twisting my empty guts until they ached — Richard Wright
(4) : stomach , belly — usually used in plural; not often in formal use
his huge gut hung far below his belt — L.M.Uris
gave the man a poke in the guts
my stupidity in keeping that hustler's gut filled with beer, T-bone steaks and whiskey — Frederic Wakeman
b. : cat gut 1
c. : the inner usually essential parts — usually used in plural
working somewhere in the guts of the machinery
tear the word from the guts of the dictionary — O.W.Holmes †1935
land which has had its guts mined out of it — A.J.Bruwer
have you ever seen the guts of a poem laid bare — F.J.Jennings
d. : a basic concept or consideration : essence — usually used in plural
gets down to the very guts of the matter
getting … into the real guts of the subject — H.J.Laski
2.
a. : a narrow sea passage (as a strait) : a small creek or narrow waterway (as in a marsh or on a tidal flat)
inlets and guts scoured by the rushing tides — R.W.Miner
b. : gully , ravine , valley
the deep gut of the hills — Ian Hamilton
3. : the sac of fluid silk that is taken from a silkworm ready to spin its cocoon from which a coarse strong thread suitable for forming the leader of a fishline is produced
4. guts plural : strength or force of character : moral stamina : courage , fortitude : determined persistence
he alone … has the guts to grapple with the enemy on every political front — New Republic
was a tower of strength, holding everything together by sheer unrelenting guts — Nicholas Monsarrat
Synonyms: see fortitude
•
- hate one's guts
II. transitive verb
( gutted ; gutted ; gutting ; guts )
Etymology: Middle English gutten, from gut, n.
1.
a. : to take out the bowels of : eviscerate
his body opened and gutted, and the entrails burnt in the fire — J.H.Wheelwright
found a dead rabbit, gutted it — Time
b. : to plunder of contents : remove the contents of
a mob gutted the house
c. : to extract all the essential portions or passages from (as a book)
2.
a. : to destroy totally the inside of
fire gutted the building
b. : to burn out
a warehouse whose roof had been burned away and whose floors had been gutted — Time
c. : to destroy in essence
the isolationist effort to gut foreign aid — Atlantic
inflation has already gutted the economy of country after country — U.S.Code
3. : to cause (as by wear) to develop ruts and holes
a gutted road
III. ˈgüt, ˈgət
dialect
variant of gout
IV. transitive verb
•
- gut it out
V. adjective
Etymology: gut (I)
1. : arising from one's inmost self : visceral
a gut reaction to the misery he has seen — J.A.Lukas
2. : having strong impact or immediate relevance
gut issues