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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

gut.

The alimentary canal, especially the intestine.

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ɡʌt//ɡʊt/Northern-England

  1. The alimentary canal, especially the intestine.

    countable · uncountable

  2. The abdomen of a person, especially one that is enlarged.

    countable · informal · uncountable
    You've developed quite a beer gut since I last met you.

  3. The intestines of an animal used to make strings of a tennis racket or violin, etc.

    uncountable

  4. A person's emotional, visceral self.

    countable · uncountable
    I have a funny feeling in my gut.

  5. A class that is not demanding or challenging.

    countable · informal · uncountable
    You should take Intro Astronomy: it's a gut.

  6. A narrow channel, passage, or stream of water. (Compare gote.)

    countable · especially · uncountable
    the Gut of Canso

  7. The sac of silk taken from a silkworm when ready to spin its cocoon, for the purpose of drawing it out into a thread. When dry, it is exceedingly strong, and is used as the snood of a fishing line.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English gut, gutte, gotte, from Old English gutt (usually in plural guttas (“guts, entrails”)), from Proto-Germanic *gut-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- (“to pour”). Related to English gote (“drain”), Old English ġēotan (“to pour”). More at gote, yote. The verb is from Middle English gutten, gotten (“to gut”).

verb/ɡʌt//ɡʊt/Northern-England

  1. To eviscerate.

    transitive
    The fisherman guts the fish before cooking them.
    The lioness gutted her prey.

  2. To remove or destroy the most important parts of.

    transitive
    Fire gutted the building.
    Congress gutted the welfare bill.

  3. To dishearten; to crush (the spirits of).

    transitive
    They were gutted by the court's decision.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English gut, gutte, gotte, from Old English gutt (usually in plural guttas (“guts, entrails”)), from Proto-Germanic *gut-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- (“to pour”). Related to English gote (“drain”), Old English ġēotan (“to pour”). More at gote, yote. The verb is from Middle English gutten, gotten (“to gut”).

adj/ɡʌt//ɡʊt/Northern-England

  1. Made of gut.

    not-comparable
    a violin with gut strings

  2. Instinctive.

    not-comparable
    gut reaction
Where this word comes from

From Middle English gut, gutte, gotte, from Old English gutt (usually in plural guttas (“guts, entrails”)), from Proto-Germanic *gut-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- (“to pour”). Related to English gote (“drain”), Old English ġēotan (“to pour”). More at gote, yote. The verb is from Middle English gutten, gotten (“to gut”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.