Gut is a material made from the intestine, or gut, of animals. The intestine is a long tube inside an animal which helps it digest food.

Since earliest times, people had cleaned the intestines of animals they had killed and stretched and dried it to make a long string. Gut is very strong and can be pulled very tight. It is also slightly elastic.

Stone Age people used it to tie an axe head to a handle because it would hold the axe head firmly in place when the axe was being used to chop wood or bones.

Gut has continued to be used right to the present day. Uses for gut include traditional stringing of tennis rackets, and violin strings. It has also been used by doctors to stitch up wounds.

See also: gut as used to refer to the digestive tract in a body - search digestion