Gutter Meaning
/ˈɡʌt.ə/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA prepared channel in a surface, especially at the side of a road adjacent to a curb, intended for the drainage of water.
nounA ditch along the side of a road.
Sentence Examples
Some good-for-nothing at this gutter paper here spread this mare's nest.
Muiriel's mind is in the gutter.
Even the court enjoys an occasional roll in the gutter.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Leaves clogged the ____, causing rainwater to overflow from the roof.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ was clogged with fallen leaves and twigs, causing the rainwater to overflow and spill onto the patio.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English gutter, guttur, goter, from Anglo-Norman guttere, from Old French goutiere (French gouttière), ultimately from Latin gutta (“drop”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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"
— 1836, Charles F. Partington, “Paris”, in The British Cyclopaedia of Literature, History, Geography, Law and Politics, page 202:
"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."
— 1902, Massachusetts Highway Commission, Annual Report of the Massachusetts Highway Commission, volume 9:
"‘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.[…]’"
— 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
"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."
— 2006, Henry Clark, Trophy Boy, page 122:
"Gutters separated the sidewalk from the road on both sides and flowed with muddy water."
— 2008, Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Leaves clogged the ____, causing rainwater to overflow from the roof.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ was clogged with fallen leaves and twigs, causing the rainwater to overflow and spill onto the patio.