How "gutter" used as a verb? What does it mean?

If a candle is guttering, it's burning low and is almost extinguished, or is being blown on and almost but not quite goes out. If a bedside light is guttering like a flame, it likely means the lightbulb is dim and flickering like an almost-dying candle would be.

It means to flicker and fade, and I've only really ever seen it used related to light or flame. It seems to usually carry a rather ominous or unpleasant tone - a light dying when you wish it wouldn't. I don't encounter it in normal speech often, much more so in writing to help set a scene. Googling suggests it's tied to the more common use of "gutter" as a channel for running water or liquid as a candle burns down the melted wax forms channels and flows away. A "guttering" candle is burnt down and melting away, but also running out and about to burn out.

At first I thought it could have been a typo or OCR error for "glittered," then I searched "to gutter meaning" and easily found the actual definition.

You might also see gutter used as a verb when talking about bowling. "He guttered the ball" means he threw the ball and it didn't hit any of the pins but went into the gutter, the out of bounds channels on both sides of the lane.

"Gutter" means "flicker" in this case. So, if you imagine what a candle does if you softly blow on it, how the light rapidly dims and returns or shifts around, that's what the sentence is getting at. Pro tip: If you go to Google and search for "define \[word\]" (ex: "define gutter"), it will give you all the various definitions of that word. I recommend skipping the AI answer that Google annoyingly shoves on top of every search ever, but... underneath that, you should find reliable definitions listed out, including etymology and whether it's current vs. archaic, British vs. American, slang vs. formal, and so on.

I’ve never heard “gutter” used as a verb. There is “gut” which can refer to the act of cutting up an animal and removing its organs (which are also called guts.) You use it like “I gutted that fish.” You can also use it to denote emotional pain, “I felt gutted.” In the sentence you provided they might’ve meant “sputtered.” Which in that context would mean something similar to flickered.

You can interpret that to mean flicker. That's an obscure and very specific verb. It's extremely unlikely you will ever hear it in any other context.

[dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/gutter) lists [one definition of "gutter"](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/gutter) as "(of a lamp or candle flame) to burn low or to be blown so as to be nearly extinguished." This is a slightly obscure definition of the word that is used when talking about flames (candles, torches, oil burning lanterns, etc.) or objects being compared to flames. Originally, this usage of "gutter" referred to how the melting wax of candles making gutter-shaped formations as it flowed downwards.

It's rarely used, but it has a specific meaning in the context of a candle. --- *intransitive verb* 1\. a. to flow in rivulets b. of a candle : to melt away through a channel out of the side of the cup hollowed out by the burning wick 2\. to incline downward in a draft >the candle flame guttering --- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gutter

flickered

Gutter as a verb describes the action of a flame flickering intensely to the point that it is almost being extinguished. Like a candle in the wind. 

**"gutter"** entered English from Anglo-French ***gotere*** and Old French ***goutiere***, from Old French ***goute***, "a drop", which itself came from Latin ***gutta***, "a drop". It was originally a noun, meaning the water drainage channel on the side of the street. In the 14th century, it acquired a verb sense, "to make or run in channels". This was applied to candles, which, when the wax started to run down, were covered in channels of wax, and the flame started to fail. The meaning drifted from there, to "to flicker as though about to be extinguished". The "water drainage channel" meaning has persisted as a noun, and is now widely applied to the drainage pipes on the sides of houses. It also became attached to the game of bowling, where a "gutter ball" is a ball the falls into the trench on the side of the lane. This meaning has led to a second verb sense, specifically for the game of bowling, but also metaphorically for a poor performance in a sporting event or contest. \[1\] [https://www.etymonline.com/word/gutter](https://www.etymonline.com/word/gutter) \[2\] [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gutter](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gutter)

I’ve literally never heard of this used as a verb. Crazy. It’s an obscure one, op, that you will never use.

When you read that "the light guttered," it usually means the light (typically from a candle, lantern, or fire) flickered or wavered, as if it were about to go out. The word guttered comes from the image of a candle's flame sputtering and weakening, often with wax running down the sides. It’s often used in literature to create a sense of tension, frailty, or approaching darkness—both literally and symbolically.

“I’m making some fillets from this beautiful fish, but first I’ve got to gutter.” That’s a joke for the English speakers OP. Don’t do that. 😂