to gut out - Glite Dictionary

Examples

You have to gut it out.

Academic text (2005)
But he gutted it out and gave us everything he had.

Blog text (22)
Even when the training became exhausting, she decided to gut out the final lap to finish the race.
Despite feeling under the weather, he managed to gut out the long meeting without complaining.
She had to gut out the intense conditions to finish the trek across the mountain.

Synonyms

to ride out

vsto gut out

20 5.3

To stay safe through a difficult or dangerous time

persists through hardship by determination or courage rather than just avoiding harm

to brave out

vsto gut out

6.7

To stay and face a difficult situation without showing fear

endures by steady determination rather than by showing visible courage

to outride

vsto gut out

8.1

To survive a difficult time or problem

focuses on enduring through effort and courage rather than only successful outcome

Antonyms

to give up

∞ 1.2

To stop trying to do something or accept defeat

to quit

653 1.5

To stop trying when something is too hard

How Determined

to persevere

22 5.1

to gut out

Informal

1 7.7

to hang on

Informal

46 3.3

to tolerate

290 3.5

Surface Forms

gut out infinitive

gutting out present participle

guts out third person singular

gutted out past

gutted out past participle

Morphology

gut + out

The meaning ‘to endure through determination’ is metaphorically linked to the noun sense ‘guts’ (courage) combined with ‘out’ (through/to the end), but this requires recognizing the idiomatic use of ‘gut/guts’ as bravery rather than the literal internal-organ sense. Because the literal meanings (to eviscerate + out) are misleading and the metaphorical mapping is not entirely predictable for an unexposed B1 learner, the item is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Gut out may come from the idea of 'guts' meaning courage; imagine pulling your gut out to show bravery and push out through a painful or hard moment, so it means 'to endure' or 'to persevere'.