<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>The alimentary canal, especially between the pylorus and the anus, or some portion of it.</li><li>Guts, bowels or entrails.</li><li>Informal: courage and fortitude; nerve; determination; stamina: Climbing that cliff takes a lot of guts.</li><li>The inner working parts of a machine or device: The mechanic had the guts of the refrigerator laid out on the kitchen floor.</li><li>The belly; stomach; abdomen.</li><li>The substance forming the case of the intestine; intestinal tissue or fiber: sheep's gut.</li><li>A preparation of the intestines of an animal, used for various purposes, as for violin strings, tennis rackets, or fishing lines.</li><li>The silken substance taken from a silkworm killed when about to spin its cocoon, used in making snells for fishhooks.</li><li>A narrow passage, as a channel of water or a defile between hills.</li><li>Slang: Also gut course.</li><li>Snap course.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>(used with object) gutted, gutting: to take out the guts or entrails of; disembowel.</li><li>To destroy the interior of: Fire gutted the building.</li><li>To plunder (a house, city, etc.) of contents: Invaders gutted the village.</li><li>To remove the vital or essential parts from: The prisoner's letters were gutted by heavy censorship.</li></ul><p><strong>Adjective</strong></p><ul><li>Informal: basic or essential: to discuss the gut issues.</li><li>Based on instincts or emotions: a gut reaction; gut decisions.</li></ul>