gutter

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
gutter/ˈɡʌtə(r)/

▶noun

• 1 a shallow trough beneath the edge of a roof, or a channel at the side of a street, for carrying off rainwater.

  ■ technical a groove or channel for flowing liquid.

• 2 (the gutter) a poor or squalid existence or environment.

• 3 the blank space between facing pages of a book or between adjacent columns of type or stamps in a sheet.

▶verb

• 1 (of a flame) flicker and burn unsteadily.

• 2 archaic make channels in.

– origin ME: from OFr. gotiere, from L. gutta ‘a drop’.