gutter

gutter out

1. To diminish, weaken, or dwindle before coming to an end. His campaign started really strong, but following a series of scandals, public support for the candidate guttered out, and he never got off the ground. She was once an icon of cinema, but her career guttered out in the '70s.

2. Of a flame or source of light, to weaken and dim before being extinguished. The lantern guttered out while we were still in the depths of the cave, leaving us in a darkness beyond words. The rain intensified, and the meager fire we'd built guttered out in no time.

See also: gutter, out

have (one's) mind in the gutter

slang Said of one who is apt to make inappropriate remarks. Hey, don't stay dirty stuff like that around my mother. Do you have your mind in the gutter?

See also: gutter, have, mind

have got (one's) mind in the gutter

slang Said of one who is apt to make inappropriate remarks. He's definitely got his mind in the gutter if he thought it was okay to say something dirty like that to your mother.

See also: gutter, have, mind

in the gutter

slang In a state of total waste, failure, or ruination. My father's company is now going to be in the gutter because of the way the incompetent new CEO is running things. My dad once threw our entire life savings in the gutter betting on horses one weekend. The director's reputation is going to be in the gutter once these allegations come to light.

See also: gutter

into the gutter

slang Into a state of total waste, failure, or ruination. My father's company is spiraling into the gutter because of the way the incompetent new CEO is running things. My dad once threw our entire life savings into the gutter betting on horses one weekend. The director's reputation will head straight into the gutter once these allegations come to light.

See also: gutter

the gutter press

Tabloids—newspapers or magazines that focus on sensationalized or scandalous stories—or those who write for them. Of course, the gutter press took the story of our divorce and twisted into a completely exaggerated scandal piece. I've been harassed by the gutter press for weeks about my involvement with the company.

See also: gutter, press

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

have one's mind in the gutter

 and have got one's mind in the gutter

Fig. tending to think of or say things that are obscene. Tiffany has her mind in the gutter. That's why she laughs at all that dirty stuff. Why do you tell so many dirty jokes? Do you always have your mind in the gutter.

See also: gutter, have, mind

*in the gutter

Fig. [of a person] in a low state; poor and homeless. (*Typically: be ~; fall [into] ~; put some-one [into] ~.) You had better straighten out your life, or you'll end in the gutter. His bad habits put him into the gutter.

See also: gutter

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

in the gutter

Appropriate to or from a squalid, degraded condition. For example, The language in that book belongs in the gutter. An antonym, out of the gutter, means "away from vulgarity or sordidness," as in That joke was quite innocent; get your mind out of the gutter. This idiom uses gutter in the sense of "a conduit for filthy waste." [Mid-1800s]

See also: gutter

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

the ˌgutter ˈpress

(disapproving) popular newspapers which print a lot of shocking stories about people’s private lives rather than serious news: Somebody must control the gutter press in this country.

The gutter is sometimes used to refer to bad social conditions or low moral standards.

See also: gutter, press

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

have one’s mind in the gutter

tv. to think or suggest something obscene. (Have got can replace have.) Tiffany has her mind in the gutter. That’s why she laughs at all that dirty stuff.

See also: gutter, have, mind

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.