From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishguttergut‧ter1 /ˈɡʌtə $ -ər/ ●○○ noun 1 [countable]TTR the low part at the edge of a road where water collects and flows away The gutters were blocked and overflowing.2 [countable]DHTBB an open pipe fixed to the edge of a roof to collect and carry away rainwater3 → the gutter4 → the gutter press
Examples from the Corpus
gutter• Scottie loses his footing, falls, grasps a gutter, dangles in space, looks down, gets dizzy.• a gutter ball• She stepped forward into the flowing gutter and reached out to him.• Ridge, hip and gable tiles are commonly displaced by gales, causing accumulation of debris in gutters, valleys and junctions.• There might have been hands in the gutter and heads rolling about under the lamplight too.• A porter threw one of our bundles into the gutter.guttergutter2 verb [intransitive] literaryBURN if a candle gutters, it burns with an unsteady flame→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
gutter• There was a sudden wind and the small fire in the shaman's lodge guttered.• The lamp guttered a little in the chimney draught.• The candles had almost guttered out, needing to be replaced, but the dim light was an unexpected blessing.Origin gutter1 (1200-1300) Old French goutiere, from goute “drop”; → GOUT 