subs. (vulgar).—1. The vice or habit of gluttony; the belly [as opposed to the GROIN (q.v.)].
2. In pl. (common).—The stomach and intestines.
1609. DEKKER, The Guls Horne-booke, chap. ii. The Neapolitan will (like DERICK, the hangman) embrace you with one arme, and rip your GUTS with the other.
1640. RAWLINS, The Rebellion, iii., 1 (DODSLEY, Old Plays (HAZLITT), 4th ed., 1875, xiv., 48). 2d Tai. Thou hast a GUT would swallow a peck-loaf.
1661. A. BROME, Poems, ‘A Satire on the Rebellion.’ The grumbling GUTS, the belly of the State.
1713. BENTLEY, On Free Thinking, sect. 53. What then was our writer’s soul? Was it brain or GUTS?
1754. FIELDING, Jonathan Wild, bk. iv., c. 1. But so it was that the knife, missing these noble parts (the noblest of many) THE GUTS, perforated only the hollow of his belly.
1787. BURNS, Death and Doctor Hornbook, st. 27.
| A countra Laird had ta’en the batts, | |
| Or some curmurring in his GUTS. |
3. In pl. (old).—A fat man; a FORTY-GUTS (q.v.). Also GUTS-AND-GARBAGE. MORE GUTS (also MORE BALLS) THAN BRAINS = a fool.
1598. SHAKESPEARE, 1 Henry IV., ii. 2. Peace, ye fat-GUTS.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. GUTTS, a very fat gross Person.
4. (artists’ and colloquial).—Spirit; quality; a touch of force, or energy, or fire: e.g., a picture, a book, an actor. With GUTS = a strong thing. Put your GUTS into it (aquatic) = Row the very best you can. He (or it) has NO GUTS in him (or it) = He (or it) is a COMMON ROTTER (q.v.). Hence, GUTSY, adj. = having GUTS, and GUTSINESS, subs. = the condition of being GUTSY.
1738. SWIFT, Polite Conversation, I. The fellow’s well enough if he had any GUTS in his brain.
1893. Pall Mall Budget, No. 1292, (June 29), 1006. The body of the cigar, or what might vulgarly be called the GUTS.
Verb (vulgar).—1. To plunder, or take out all or most of the contents (i.e., intestines) of a place or thing; to drain; to ‘clean out’: e.g., TO GUT A HOUSE (thieves’) = to rifle it; to GUT AN OYSTER = to eat it; TO GUT A BOOK = to empty it of interesting matter; TO GUT A QUART POT = to drain at a draught. Whence, GUTTED = dead-broke.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v.
1819. T. MOORE, Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress, p. 1. Whether diddling your subjects or GUTTING their fobs.
1849–61. MACAULAY, The History of England, x. The King’s printing house … was—to use a coarse metaphor, which then, for the first time, came into fashion—completely GUTTED.
1892. R. L. STEVENSON and L. OSBOURNE, The Wrecker, p. 373. Well, we’ve got the GUTS out of you!
2. (schools’).—To eat hard, fast, and badly. For synonyms, see WOLF.
TO FRET ONE’S GUTS, verb. phr. (common).—To worry.
TO HAVE PLENTY OF GUTS BUT NO BOWELS, verb. phr. (common).—To be unfeeling, hard, merciless.
MY GREAT GUTS ARE READY TO EAT MY LITTLE ONES, phr. (old).—‘I am very hungry.’ Also, MY GUTS BEGIN TO THINK MY THROAT’S CUT; MY GUTS CURSE MY TEETH; and MY GUTS CHIME TWELVE.—GROSE.
NOT FIT TO CARRY GUTS TO A BEAR, phr. (common).—To be worthless; absolutely unmannerly; UNFIT FOR HUMAN FOOD (q.v.).
