What does guttering mean?
Guttering describes a flame or light that is no longer burning steadily: it flickers, weakens, and may ultimately go out. In everyday use the word is usually encountered as an adjective—“a guttering candle,” “a guttering flame”—or as the present participle in “the candle was guttering in the draught.” Its sound is evocative rather than technical, suggesting a small light struggling against a draft and, figuratively, hopes, prospects, or fortunes that are fading. “Guttering” is also the present participle of the verb gutter, whose separate, uncommon sense is to flow or run in a stream. In that use the word may sound literary or old-fashioned. Because it conveys both physical movement and decline, guttering is especially effective in descriptions of candlelight, fires, and metaphorical collapse. It is more expressive than merely saying “flickering” and more specific than saying “failing”: the image is of a flame that keeps trying to live while becoming less and less stable.
Describing a flame, fire, or light that burns weakly and with an unsteady flicker.
"A guttering torch lit the narrow passage."
Normally used attributively, directly before a noun.
To burn with a weak, flickering flame; by extension, to weaken or falter. In a less common sense, to flow or run in a stream.
"The flame guttered in the draft before finally going out."
The figurative sense is common, while the flowing sense is uncommon in modern English.
A dying flame does not always vanish at once—it may gutter, flickering as if fighting for its last breath.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of guttering
The modern form is the present participle of gutter. English gutter was borrowed during the Middle English period from Old French, with forms such as gotiere, and ultimately from medieval Latin gutteria; its further derivation is uncertain. It is often proposed that it is related to Latin guttur, meaning “throat,” which also underlies guttural and related anatomical terms, but the precise connection is debated.
Related word forms
How guttering is actually used
The word is most natural as a participial adjective before a noun or as the present participle describing an unsteady flame. Its figurative use for fading prospects, hopes, or fortunes is common in literary and journalistic prose. The sense meaning to flow in a stream is uncommon and may sound marked or old-fashioned.