How to use gutter in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb, adjective

Gutter means a prepared channel in a surface, especially at the side of a road adjacent to a curb, intended for the drainage of water. Example: “The gutters must be cleared of leaves a few times a year.”

Examples of gutter by meaning

nounA ditch along the side of a road.

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.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

nounA duct or channel beneath the eaves of a building to carry rain water; eavestrough.

The gutters must be cleared of leaves a few times a year.

nounA groove down the sides of a bowling lane.

You can decide to use the bumpers to avoid the ball going down the gutter every time.

nounThe notional locus of things, acts, or events that are distasteful, ill-bred, or morally questionable.

This is the true voice of the gutter.1996, Julian Schnabel, Basquiat, spoken by Annina Nosei (Elina Löwensohn), United States: Eleventh Street Productions; distributed by...

nounA low, vulgar state.

Get your mind out of the gutter.
What kind of gutter language is that? I ought to wash your mouth out with soap.

verbTo flicker as if about to be extinguished.

The light in his eyes guttered like a candle in a mighty wind and finally went out.2020 November 16, Emma Castle, Devastate Me: A Next-door Neighbor Romance, Lauren Smith, →ISBN
Alex's eyes gutter, and his face goes cold.2023 October 10, Clare Gilmore, Love Interest: A Novel, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN

verbTo worsen considerably.

The students' performance guttered after the school event.
The patient's state would soon gutter.

nounOne who or that which guts.

When did this Province of diggers in dirt and gutters of fish send forth Rabbis?1921, Bernie Babcock, The Coming of the King, page 151
An old, rusty coat hanger made a rudimentary fish-gutter.2013, Don Keith, Shelley Stewart, Mattie C.'s Boy: The Shelley Stewart Story, page 34

More sentences with gutter

Buford Tannen: Especially not some duded-up egg-sucking piece of gutter trash!From the entry dude
He used a piece of putty to temporarily bung up the leaking gutter.From the entry bung up
The ladder holdoff enabled him to clean the gutters easily without the ladder's weight damaging them.From the entry holdoff
"And my god, it was so big." — "Ayo?" — "Get your mind out of the gutter!"From the entry get one's mind out of the gutter
Rotten leaves and branches have stopped the gutter.From the entry stop
There is a gap between the roof and the gutter.From the entry gap
He was elt(er)ed wi' gutters fae head to foot.From the entry elt
Rat salami became a delicacy, and butchered cats were sold as "gutter rabbits.”2019, Kathleen Sears, Socialism 101, page 76. From the entry gutter rabbit
'Who's gunna worry about an old derro found dead in the gutter, eh?2002, Bryce Courtenay, Matthew Flinders' Cat, published 2006, unnumbered page. From the entry derro
Position the gutter, then temporarily nail it to the fascia with 6d common nails at several places.1969 September, Richard Day, “How to Install Gutters and Downspots”, in Robert P. Crossley, editor, Popular Mechanics, volume 132, number…. From the entry ferrule
Place the ferrule inside the gutter at bead height, lined up with the end of a rafter.1969 September, Richard Day, “How to Install Gutters and Downspots”, in Robert P. Crossley, editor, Popular Mechanics, volume 132, number…. From the entry ferrule
'Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,' he said.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter VII, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC. From the entry crawl
Grass and weeds had a good hold in the gutters and were choking the drains.1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 230. From the entry downspouting
Melting snow gurgled in drainspouts and gutters, all Copenhagen was adrip.1948, Edgar Maass, The Queen’s Physician, New York: Scribner, Book 3, Chapter 8. From the entry adrip
Her mother tried to persuade her not to keep the dirty gutter dog.1947, Narayan Sitaram Phadke, Leaves in the August wind: A Novel with the Indian Upheaval of August 1942 for Its Background, Hind Kitabs…. From the entry gutter dog
It's a cert Gursey sank dead on the gutter at the Flat.1934, Brian Penton, Landtakers: The Story of an Epoch. From the entry Adam Tiler
During the siege of Paris, and even much later, in certain quarters of Paris, they'd eat 'gutter rabbit' and 'mutton-flavoured rat'.2023, Gérard Genette, Bardadrac, page 32. From the entry gutter rabbit
And I had to show him that I was down in the gutter with the rest of them.2015, Gordon Smith, “Five-O” (38:10 from the start), in Better Call Saul, season 1, episode 6, spoken by Michael Ehrmantraut (Jonathan…. From the entry boy
Jobs, such as painting, gutter repair, demolition work or window replacement, are often easier done using a scaffold.2015, Phil Hughes, Ed Ferrett, “Workplace Hazards and Risk Control”, in International Health and Safety at Work: For the NEBOSH…. From the entry scaffold
Doesn't understand what its audience actually wants and throws fan favorite series like DMC into the gutter for no reason.2015 March 4, GameFAQs. From the entry capcom
Cops picked her up at the Greyhound station a couple-three winters ago, shivering, hungry, dirty as a gutter rat.2012, Loree Lough, A Man of Honor. From the entry couple three
Not under my roof.” “What about on the roof?” “Get your mind out of the gutter!” “What about in the gutter?”2010 July 8, Michael Rowe, “Proposition Infinity” (10:04 from the start), in Futurama, season 6, episode 4, spoken by Professor Farnsworth…. From the entry robosexual
He usually messes with gutter breezies that he can manipulate 'cause she aint got nothin' goin' for herself no way.2009, Randria Godbolt, Submissive, page 19. From the entry breezy
People lounged near the door, and handed out scraps of news to the unenfranchised, who stood outside in the gutter.1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, page 176. From the entry unenfranchised
He looked down at the guttered candlestub.1992, Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses, →ISBN, page 3. From the entry candlestub
There was no one, only a breezeful of leaves and an empty Embassy cigarette packet in the gutter.1968, David Pinner, chapter 9, in With My Body, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, page 70. From the entry breezeful

Meaning of gutter

noun A prepared channel in a surface, especially at the side of a road adjacent to a curb, intended for the drainage of water.
noun A ditch along the side of a road.
noun A duct or channel beneath the eaves of a building to carry rain water; eavestrough.

Full definition of gutter

Questions about gutter in a sentence

How do you use gutter in a sentence?: Gutter is used as a noun, verb and adjective. For example: “The gutters must be cleared of leaves a few times a year.”
What is a short sentence with gutter?: “The patient's state would soon gutter.”
What does gutter mean?: Gutter means a prepared channel in a surface, especially at the side of a road adjacent to a curb, intended for the drainage of water.

Adapted from Wiktionary: gutter (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use gutter in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/gutter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.