What does gut mean?
Gut has both a literal and an idiomatic life. As a noun, it refers primarily to the stomach or intestines, as in medical or anatomical contexts, but it also means the essential core of a person or thing. In informal usage, 'guts' means courage, while a 'gut feeling' is an instinctive judgment that seems to come from deep intuition rather than deliberate reasoning. As a verb, gut means to remove an animal's internal organs, often during preparation for cooking; informally, it can mean to strip a place or thing of its contents or leave it badly damaged. These senses are especially common in everyday British and American English. Gut is also a useful example of how bodily vocabulary becomes a metaphor for instinct, character, and emotional resilience.
The stomach or intestines, especially of a person or animal; figuratively, courage, instinctive judgment, or the essential core of something.
"He trusted his gut and took the narrow path through the woods."
The sense meaning courage is informal and generally appears in the plural form 'guts.'
To remove the internal organs from an animal, especially in preparation for cooking; informally, to destroy the contents or structure of a place or thing.
"The butcher gutted the sheep and prepared it for the market."
The destructive sense is informal and is common in phrases such as 'gutted a building.'
The plural is standard and especially common in the informal sense meaning courage or nerve.
"It took real guts to speak out against the injustice."
A gut feeling is literally a feeling in the stomach—and one of English's most enduring ways of talking about instinct.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of gut
The English word descends from Old English gutt, meaning the stomach or intestines, and continues Proto-Germanic *gutą. It is cognate with Old Norse guttr and Middle Dutch gutt, while related Latin forms such as guttur, meaning 'throat,' and gutta are commonly traced to the same older Indo-European root. The figurative senses for courage, instinct, and inner character developed from associations with the bodily organs and the feelings connected with them.
Related word forms
How gut is actually used
The anatomical noun is common in formal and informal English. The figurative sense meaning courage is informal and usually appears as 'guts'; the use of 'gut' to mean an instinct or intuitive judgment is also idiomatic. The verb meaning to destroy the contents of something is informal and often used with buildings, vehicles, or organizations.