gut

blood and guts 

1. Fig. strife; acrimony. There is a lot of blood and guts around here, but we get our work done anyway. Cut out the blood and guts and grow up.

2. Fig. acrimonious. (This is hyphenated before a nominal.) There are too many blood-and-guts arguments around here. Old blood-and-guts Wally is making his threats again.

See also: and, blood

bust a gut (to do something)

Fig. to work very hard; to strain oneself to accomplish something. (The word gut is considered impolite in some circumstances. Bust is a non-standard form of burst.) I don't intend to bust a gut to get there on time. I busted a gut to get there the last time, and I was the first one there.

See also: bust

get enough nerve up (to do something) and get enough courage up (to do something); get enough guts up (to do something); get enough pluck up (to do something); get enough spunk up (to do something); get the nerve up (to do something); get the courage up (to do something); get the guts up (to do something); get the pluck up (to do something); get the spunk up (to do something)

Fig. to work up enough courage to do something. I hope I can get enough nerve up to ask her for her autograph. I wanted to do it, but I couldn't get up enough nerve. I thought he would never get up the courage to ask me for a date.

See also: enough, get, nerve, up

gut feeling and gut reaction; gut response

a personal, intuitive feeling or response. I have a gut feeling that something bad is going to happen. My gut reaction is that we should hire Susan for the job.

See also: feeling

hate someone's guts

Fig. to hate someone very much. Oh, Bob is terrible. I hate his guts! You may hate my guts for saying so, but I think you're getting gray hair.

See also: hate

kick in the guts

Sl. a severe blow to one's body or spirit. The news was a kick in the guts, and I haven't recovered yet. I didn't need a kick in the guts like that.

See also: kick

my gut tells me (that)

my instincts tell me that. (This refers to one's gut reaction or gut response.) My gut tells me that her idea is a sound one. This looks good on paper, but my gut tells me that it is all wrong.

See also: tell

spew one's guts (out) 

1. Sl. to empty one's stomach; to vomit. Fred is spewing his guts out because of that lousy fish you served. He's spewing his guts because he has the flu.

2. Sl. to tell everything that one knows; to confess everything. (Underworld.) Lefty was sitting there in the police station spewing his guts out about the bank job. If he really is spewing his guts, the mob will cancel his Christmas.

See also: spew

spill one's guts

Sl. to tell all; to confess. I had to spill my guts about the broken window. I didn't want you to take the blame. Mary spilled her guts about the window. She confessed that she was trying to shield Bob.

See also: spill

split a gut and bust a gut 

1. Fig. Inf. to laugh very hard. He laughed until he nearly split a gut. The clown made me bust a gut laughing.

2. Fig. Inf. to work very hard. I split a gut to get this place fixed up in a week. Don't bust a gut cleaning up for me. I love things that are a bit messy.

See also: split

yell one's head off and yell one's guts out 

1. Fig. to yell loud and long. I was yelling my head off at the football game. Stop yelling your guts out and listen to me.

2. Fig. to complain bitterly and loudly. Some lady is yelling her head off about shoddy workmanship out in the lobby. I yell my guts out about bad service when I get bad service!

See also: head, yell

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a gut feeling

a feeling that you are certain is right, even if you cannot explain why My gut feeling was that she was lying.

See also: feeling

a gut reaction

a reaction that is based on your immediate feelings about someone or something When a tragedy like this happens, I think people's gut reaction is anger and a desire to find someone to blame.

See bust a gut, bust a gut

See also: reaction

a gut-bucket  (informal)

someone who is very fat She introduced me to her son who was a real gut-bucket with tattoos all over his arms.

a misery guts  (informal)

someone who complains all the time and is never happy Of course, your father, old misery guts, wanted to come home after half an hour because he was bored.

See also: misery

blood and guts  (informal)

violence shown on television, film, or in the theatre, where people are seen being injured or killed It was all blood and guts. I came out feeling quite ill.

See also: and, blood

bust a gut  (informal)

to work very hard or to make a big effort to achieve something I really bust a gut to get that report finished on time.

See also: bust

bust a gut (laughing)  (informal)

to laugh a lot I bust a gut laughing at his imitation of the Queen.

See also: bust

hate somebody's guts  (informal)

to hate someone I hate his guts for treating my sister so badly.

See also: hate

have your guts for garters  (British informal)

if you say that you will have someone's guts for garters, you mean that you intend to punish them very severely If I catch you smoking again I'll have your guts for garters.

See also: have

slog/sweat/work your guts out  (informal)

to work very hard or to use a lot of effort to do something You've got this wonderful man slogging his guts out for you, and all you do is criticize him! After working his guts out at the gym, he spoilt it all by going straight to the pub.

See hate guts, spill guts

See also: out, slog

spill your guts  (American & Australian informal)

to tell someone all about yourself, especially your problems Why do people take part in these shows and spill their guts on camera in front of a studio audience?

See also: spill

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bust a gut (slang)

1. to work very hard to achieve something It’s kind of sad to see these kids bust a gut chasing a dream that will never succeed.

2. to laugh very energetically I busted a gut reading that essay.

Etymology: based on the idea that extremely hard physical work or laughter could damage your gut (stomach)

See also: bust

go with your gut

to trust your feelings when deciding what to do He often goes with his gut in making important decisions.

hate somebody's guts (spoken)

to dislike someone very much I don't think you should hate my guts just because I like to hunt.

See also: hate

spill your guts

to tell secret or personal information She thinks you should share such things only with your family, and not spill your guts to every stranger you see.

See also: spill