gut
pronunciation
How to pronounce gut in British English:
UK [ɡʌt]
How to pronounce gut in American English:
US [ɡʌt]
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- Noun:
- the part of the alimentary canal between the stomach and the anus
- a strong cord made from the intestines of sheep and used in surgery
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- Verb:
- empty completely; destroy the inside of
- remove the guts of
Word Origin
- gut
- gut: [OE] Gut probably comes ultimately from prehistoric Indo-European *gh(e)u- ‘pour’ (source also of English foundry, funnel, fusion, etc), and presumably has the underlying meaning ‘tube through which digested food flows’. From the same source came Greek khūmós ‘animal or plant juice’, from which English got the technical term chyme ‘mass of semidigested food in the stomach’ [17]. The use of the plural guts for ‘vigour’ or ‘courage’ dates from the late 19th century.=> foundry, funnel, fusion
- gut (n.)
- Old English guttas (plural) "bowels, entrails," literally "a channel," related to geotan "to pour," from Proto-Germanic *gut-, from PIE *gheu- "pour" (see found (v.2)). Related to Middle Dutch gote, Dutch goot, German Gosse "gutter, drain," Middle English gote "channel, stream." Meaning "abdomen, belly" is from late 14c. Meaning "narrow passage in a body of water" is from 1530s. 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 plural) is from 1570s. To hate (someone's) guts is first attested 1918. The notion of the intestines as a seat of emotions is ancient (see bowel) and probably explains expressions such as gut reaction (1963), gut feeling (by 1970), and compare guts. Gut check attested by 1976.
- gut (v.)
- "remove the guts of" (fish, etc.), late 14c., from gut (n.); figurative use "plunder the contents of" is by 1680s. Related: Gutted; gutting.
Example
- 1. A smaller gut could therefore support a larger brain .
- 2. A healthy adult human harbours some 100 trillion bacteria in his gut alone .
- 3. There 's one dangerous liquid no airport security can confiscate from you : it 's in your gut .
- 4. He 's mostly writing about the human microbiome , inflammation , gut permeability and other health subjects .
- 5. That would be a real advance on polypropylene and sheep 's gut .