gut

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The stomach or belly, especially a large one.

   You have developed quite a gut since I last saw you.

2. 2
   noun

   A strong instinctive feeling rather than reasoned thought.

   My gut tells me that something is wrong here.

3. 3
   verb

   To destroy the inside of a building, especially by fire.

   The fire gutted the old factory in a few hours.

4. 4
   verb

   To remove the internal organs of a fish or animal.

   He cleaned and gutted the fish by the river.

Simplified etymology

Gut is an Old English word, probably related to gēotan, meaning “to pour.” The plural guts commonly referred to the stomach or bowels, then developed the informal sense “courage” or “force of character” in the late 19th century. The idea of something instinctive or basic, as in gut reaction, dates from the 1960s.

From Middle English gut, gutte, gotte, from Old English gutt (usually in plural guttas (“guts, entrails”)), from Proto-Germanic *gut-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- (“to pour”). Related to English gote (“drain”), Old English ġēotan (“to pour”). More at gote, yote. The verb is from Middle English gutten, gotten (“to gut”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary