English · Slang Attested

duck's guts

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

A difficult or awkward situation, trouble.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

tình huống khó khăn hoặc bất tiện

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used American English

Examples

“We are at a really precarious time in our history. If we can’t get the investors in and we are not achieving a growth agenda as a country, but a consolidation agenda, we are in ducks’ guts,” he [Jeremy Stephen] said.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).

Topics: Ducks & geese Belly & guts

Common questions

What does “duck's guts” mean?

A difficult or awkward situation, trouble.

Is “duck's guts” formal or informal?

duck's guts is generally slang.