gutter

English

curb, gutter, and storm drain

Etymology

Anglo-Norman gotere, from Old French goutiere (French gouttière), ultimately from Latin gutta (“drop”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈɡʌt.ə/
• (US) IPA: /ˈɡʌt.ɚ/
• Rhymes: -ʌtə(r)

Noun

gutter (plural gutters)

1. A ditch along the side of a road.
2. A duct or channel beneath the eaves of a building to carry rain water; eavestrough.
3. A grooves down the sides of a bowling lane.
4. A large groove (commonly behind animals) in a barn used for the collection and removal of animal excrement.
5. A space between printed columns of text.
6. Something distasteful or morally questionable.
7. (UK) A drainage channel.
8. (philately) an unprinted space between rows of stamps.
9. The part of a street meant for vehicles.
   • 1998, Denis Hamill, 3 Quarters, 1999 Pocket Books edition, ISBN 0671002503, page 91 [1]:

     Bobby stood in the middle of the gutter, traffic swerving around him.

   • 2010 August 31, Anne Hart, "Sacramento County Children's Report Card says 34% of teens 13-16 are overweight or obese", Sacramento Nutrition Examiner (blog) [2]:

     If you don't want your kids to play softball in the middle of the gutter full of traffic, you need parks.

Translations

ditch

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 排水溝 (cmn), 排水沟 (cmn) (páishuǐgōu)

• Finnish: katuoja (fi)
• French: caniveau (fr) m
• German: Rinne (de) f
• Hungarian: árok (hu)
• Japanese: 溝 (ja) (どぶ, dobu), 排水溝 (ja) (はいすいこう, haisuikō)
• Latin: canālis (la) m

• Macedonian: одводен ров (mk) (ódvoden rov) m
• Norwegian: grøft (no) m and f
• Portuguese: valeta (pt) f
• Russian: кювет (ru) (kjuvét) m, канава (ru) (kanáva) f
• Scottish Gaelic: clais (gd) f
• Swedish: rännsten (sv) c
• Turkish: ızgara (tr)

duct or channel beneath the eaves

• Catalan: canal (ca)
• Czech: okap (cs) m
• Finnish: sadevesikouru (fi)
• French: gouttière (fr), caniveau (fr)
• German: Dachrinne (de) f
• Hindi: हलक (hi) (halak), कंठ (hi) (kanth)
• Hungarian: ereszcsatorna (hu)
• Italian: grondaia (it)
• Macedonian: олук (mk) (óluk) m
• Norwegian: takrenne (no) m and f
• Portuguese: calha (pt) f, algeroz (pt), agueiro (pt) m, canaleta (pt) f

• Romanian: jgheab (ro)
• Russian: жёлоб (ru) (žólob) m
• Scots: rone
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: олук (sh) m

  Roman: oluk (sh) m

• Spanish: canalón (es) m
• Swedish: takränna (sv) c
• Tagalog: alulod (tl)
• Turkish: oluk (tr), suyolu (tr)

groove beside a bowling alley

• Finnish: kouru (fi)
• French: dalot (fr) m

• Portuguese: canaleta (pt) f
• Swedish: ränna (sv) c

space between columns in text

• Spanish: medianil (es) m

something distasteful or morally questionable

• Finnish: rappio (fi)

See also

• Gutter on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• gout

Adjective

gutter (comparative more gutter, superlative most gutter)

1. Suitable for the gutter; vulgar, disreputable.

Translations

vulgar, disreputable

• Finnish: rappiollinen (fi)

Verb

gutter (third-person singular simple present gutters, present participle guttering, simple past and past participle guttered)

1. To flow or stream; to form gutters. [from late 14th c.]
2. (of a candle) To melt away or fail from becoming channeled on one side. [from early 18th c.]
3. (of a small flame) To flicker as if about to be extinguished.
4. (transitive) To send (a bowling ball) into the gutter, not hitting any pins.
5. (transitive) To supply with a gutter or gutters.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)

6. (transitive) To cut or form into small longitudinal hollows; to channel.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Translations

to flow or stream; to form gutters

• Finnish: valua (fi), virrata (fi)

to melt away or fail from becoming channeled on one side

to flicker as if about to be extinguished

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Danish

Noun

gutter c

1. plural indefinite of gut

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Norwegian

Noun

gutter m

1. plural indefinite of gutt