Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

guts

 - 7 dictionary results

gut

  [guht] noun, verb, gut⋅ted, gut⋅ting, adjective
Use guts in a Sentence
–noun
1. the alimentary canal, esp. between the pylorus and the anus, or some portion of it. Compare foregut, midgut, hindgut.
2. guts,
a. the bowels or entrails.
b. Informal. courage and fortitude; nerve; determination; stamina: Climbing that cliff takes a lot of guts.
c. the inner working parts of a machine or device: The mechanic had the guts of the refrigerator laid out on the kitchen floor.
3. the belly; stomach; abdomen.
4. the substance forming the case of the intestine; intestinal tissue or fiber: sheep's gut.
5. a preparation of the intestines of an animal, used for various purposes, as for violin strings, tennis rackets, or fishing lines.
6. the silken substance taken from a silkworm killed when about to spin its cocoon, used in making snells for fishhooks.
7. a narrow passage, as a channel of water or a defile between hills.
8. Slang. a gut course.
–verb (used with object)
9. to take out the guts or entrails of; disembowel.
10. to destroy the interior of: Fire gutted the building.
11. to plunder (a house, city, etc.) of contents: Invaders gutted the village.
12. to remove the vital or essential parts from: The prisoner's letters were gutted by heavy censorship.
–adjective
13. Informal.
a. basic or essential: to discuss the gut issues.
b. based on instincts or emotions: a gut reaction; gut decisions.
—Idiom
14. spill one's guts, Slang. to tell all; lay oneself bare: the famous star spills his guts in his autobiography.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME gut, guttes (pl.), OE guttas (pl.), akin to gēotan to pour

Related forms:
gutlike, adjective

Synonyms:
2b. pluck.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To guts
gut   (gŭt)   
n.  

    1. The alimentary canal or a portion thereof, especially the intestine or stomach.

    2. The embryonic digestive tube, consisting of the foregut, the midgut, and the hindgut.

    3. Innermost emotional or visceral response: She felt in her gut that he was guilty.

    4. guts The essential components or inner working parts: "The best part of a good car . . . is its guts" (Leigh Allison Wilson).

    5. Courage; fortitude.

    6. Nerve; audacity.

  2. guts The bowels; entrails; viscera.

  3. Slang

    1. Innermost emotional or visceral response: She felt in her gut that he was guilty.

    2. guts The essential components or inner working parts: "The best part of a good car . . . is its guts" (Leigh Allison Wilson).

    3. Courage; fortitude.

    4. Nerve; audacity.

  4. guts Slang

    1. Courage; fortitude.

    2. Nerve; audacity.

  5. Slang A gut course.

  6. A thin, tough cord made from the intestines of animals, usually sheep, used as strings for musical instruments or as surgical sutures.

  7. A narrow passage or channel.

  8. Fibrous material taken from the silk gland of a silkworm before it spins a cocoon, used for fishing tackle.

tr.v.   gut·ted, gut·ting, guts

  1. To remove the intestines or entrails of; eviscerate.

  2. To extract essential or major parts of: gut a manuscript.

  3. To destroy the interior of: Fire gutted the house.

  4. To reduce or destroy the effectiveness of: A stipulation added at the last minute gutted the ordinance.

adj.   Slang
Arousing or involving basic emotions; visceral: "Conservationism is a gut issue in the West" (Saturday Review).

[From Middle English guttes, entrails, from Old English guttas; see gheu- in Indo-European roots.]
gut'ty adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
gut [gət]

  1. n.
    the belly; the intestines. : Tom poked Bill right in the gut.
  2. mod.
    basic; fundamental. : We are not dealing with what I would call one of the gut matters of the day.
  3. mod.
    [of a college or high school course] easy. : I won't take anymore gut economics courses. Even those are hard.
  4. n.
    an easy course in school. : That course is a gut.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
guts [gəts]

  1. n.
    courage; bravado. : It takes guts to do something like that.
  2. n.
    the belly; the intestines. : I've got some kind of pain in the guts.
  3. n.
    the inner workings of anything. : There's something wrong in the guts of this clock.
  4. n.
    the essence of something. : Let's discuss the real guts of this issue.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

gut 
O.E. guttas (pl.) "bowels, entrails," related to geotan "to pour," from PIE *gh(e)u- "pour." Related to M.Du. gote, Ger. Gosse "gutter, drain," M.E. gote "channel, stream." Meaning "easy college course" is student slang from 1916, probably from obsolete slang sense of "feast" (the connecting notion is "something that one can eat up"). Sense of "inside contents of anything" (usually pl.) is from 1580. Figurative pl. guts "spirit, courage," first recorded 1893; hence gutless "cowardly" (1915). The verb meaning "to remove the guts of" (of fish, etc.) is from c.1300. To hate (someone's) guts is first attested 1918. Gut reaction is 1963, probably a back-formation from gutsy (1936) "tough, plucky."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2gut
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: gut·ted; gut·ting
: to take out the bowels of : EVISCERATE
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

gut (gŭt)
n.

  1. The alimentary canal or a portion thereof, especially the intestine or stomach.

  2. The embryonic digestive tube, consisting of the foregut, the midgut, and the hindgut.

  3. guts The bowels; entrails; viscera.

  4. A thin, tough cord made from the intestines of animals, usually sheep, used as suture material in surgery.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see guts on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way