gutter
/ˈɡʌt.ɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.38 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A prepared channel in a surface, especially at the side of a road adjacent to a curb, intended for the drainage of water.
noun
A duct or channel beneath the eaves of a building to carry rain water; eavestrough.
noun
A large groove (commonly behind animals) in a barn used for the collection and removal of animal excrement.
Example Sentences
- "They a not so clean as they might be, since the water [is] carried off by only one gutter, in the centre of t[he] street"
- "In nearly all of the towns the gutters are filled with vegetation, or have been neglected for so long a time that the roadway becomes its own drainage bed."
- "‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared.[…]’"
- "As Mike parked the vehicle, its right wheels sank into an unpaved gutter gradually worn irregular and deep by the rush of rainwater flowing down the street."
- "Gutters separated the sidewalk from the road on both sides and flowed with muddy water."
- "Meltwater gathered in the icy ruts of the unpaved road, the pressure wearing thin channels in the packed snow. Along the gutter the rivulets of spring runoff cut a course to the storm sewer"
Etymology
From Middle English gutter, guttur, goter, from Anglo-Norman guttere, from Old French goutiere (French gouttière), ultimately from Latin gutta (“drop”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɡʌt.ɚ/
- British English: /ˈɡʌt.ə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
gutters (plural)
gutters (present, singular)
guttering (participle, present)
guttered (participle, past)
guttered (past)
more gutter (comparative)
most gutter (superlative)