Meaning & use
beer gut
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableinformal
A large, round stomach, especially one caused by drinking a lot of beer.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a beer gut' or 'beer guts' for more than one.
Patterns
- have a beer gut
- develop a beer gut
- get rid of a beer gut
He stopped drinking beer every night and his beer gut slowly disappeared.
After years of parties, my uncle had a big beer gut.
She joked that her husband's beer gut was proof of his love for football and lager.
nouncountableinformal
A stomach that sticks out, regardless of what caused it.
Grammar: Used in the same way as the first sense, but the cause is not necessarily beer.
Patterns
- a beer gut
- have a beer gut
He's never drunk beer in his life, but he still has a beer gut from all the sugary drinks.
The doctor warned him that his beer gut, even if not from beer, was a health risk.
Word forms
| plural | beer guts |
|---|
Common combinations
- big beer gut
- He came back from holiday with a big beer gut.
- develop a beer gut
- If you keep drinking like that, you'll develop a beer gut.
- lose the beer gut
- He's been running every morning to lose the beer gut.
- beer gut hanging over
- His beer gut was hanging over his belt.
- a bit of a beer gut
- He's got a bit of a beer gut these days.
Synonyms and how they differ
- paunch
- More formal and neutral; it means a large stomach but does not suggest beer as the cause.
- potbelly
- Similar informal word, but it often suggests a round, protruding stomach from any cause, not just alcohol.
- belly
- A neutral word for the whole front part of the body; it does not imply that the stomach is large.
Opposites
Word family
- beer-bellied adjective
- Having a large, round stomach, usually from drinking beer.
Commonly confused: beer gut or beer belly?
beer gut vs beer belly
This is a very common variant with the same meaning and level of informality; 'beer gut' is slightly more direct or blunt.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses 'beer gut' most naturally.
Choose one answer.
'From' is the correct preposition to show the cause: a beer gut from drinking. The other prepositions do not express cause in this phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “beer gut”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.