gutter Hear it!

gutter definition

gut·ter (gutər)

noun

  1. a trough or channel along or under the eaves of a roof, to carry off rain water
  2. a narrow channel along the side of a road or street, to carry off water, as to a sewer
  3. a place or state of living characterized by filth, poverty, squalor, etc.
  4. a channel or groove like a gutter, as the groove on either side of a bowling alley
  5. the adjoining inner margins of two facing pages in a book, magazine, etc.

Etymology: ME gotere < OFr gutiere < L gutta, a drop

transitive verb

to furnish with gutters; make gutters in

intransitive verb

  1. to flow in a stream
  2. to melt rapidly so that the wax runs down the side in channels: said of a candle

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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