A gutter is a long, thin trough, usually one that runs straight.

A gutter (sometimes referred to as a ditch) runs along a street or road and carries water away from the thoroughfare into a sewer.

The popular image of a drunk lying in such a trench gave rise to the adjective "gutter", meaning vulgar. Related to this popular usage are the idioms "to be in the gutter", meaning "to be down on one's luck" and "having one's mind in the gutter", meaning "having vulgar thoughts".

A gutter (sometimes referred to as an eavestrough or rain gutter), is a narrow channel which runs along the eaves of a building and serves to collect rain water and direct it down away from the roof to prevent drips off the roof edges.

In bowling, the gutters are long grooves on either side of a lane which are slightly wider than a bowling ball, and into which a ball can easily roll. If it does, the ball cannot strike any pins, and the player receives no points for that throw.

In typography a gutter is the space between columns of printed text. This has been adapted into comics jargon to describe the narrow spaces between panels.