gut·ter
(gŭt′ər)n.1. A channel at the edge of a street or road for carrying off surface water.
2. A trough fixed under or along the eaves for draining rainwater from a roof. Also called regionally eaves trough, rainspout, spouting.
3. A furrow or groove formed by running water.
4. A trough or channel for carrying something off, such as that on either side of a bowling alley or that almost level with the water in some swimming pools.
5. Printing The white space formed by the inner margins of two facing pages, as of a book.
6. A degraded and squalid class or state of human existence.
v. gut·tered, gut·ter·ing, gut·ters
v.tr.1. To form gutters or furrows in: Heavy rain guttered the hillside.
2. To provide with gutters.
v.intr.1. To flow in channels or rivulets: Rainwater guttered along the curb.
2. To melt away through the side of the hollow formed by a burning wick. Used of a candle.
3. To burn low and unsteadily; flicker: The flame guttered in the lamp.
adj. Vulgar, sordid, or unprincipled: gutter language; the gutter press.
[Middle English goter, guter, from Old French gotier, from gote, drop, from Latin gutta.]
Our Living Language Certain household words have proved important as markers for major US dialect boundaries. The channels along the edge of a roof for carrying away rainwater (normally referred to in the plural) are variously known as
eaves troughs in parts of New England, the Great Lakes states, and the West;
spouting or
rainspouts in eastern Pennsylvania and the Delmarva Peninsula; and
gutters from Virginia southward. Historically, along the Atlantic coast, the transition points have marked unusually clear boundaries for the three major dialect areas—Northern, Midland, and Southern—traditionally acknowledged by scholars of American dialects. Nowadays, however, Southern
gutters has become widely established as the standard US term. See Note at
andiron American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
guttering
(ˈɡʌtərɪŋ) n1. (Building) the gutters, downpipes, etc, that make up the rainwater disposal system on the outside of a building
2. (Building) the materials used in this system
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
gut•ter•ing
(ˈgʌt ər ɪŋ)
n. 1. the act of making gutters.
2. the gutters of a building or material for making them.
3. the melted wax or tallow of a candle.
[1400–50]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.