Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to eat like a glutton.

1616		R.C. Times’ Whistle (1871) Satire VI 76: ’Tis safest gutting at a loafe begunne .
1633		W. Ames Against Human Ceremonies II 316: Heer the Rejoynder [...] accuseth him of making it a Guttide; As if no Civill day of rejoycing could be without Gutting.
c.1831		‘New Song of the Election’ in C. Hindley Curiosities of Street Lit. (1871) 99: Such gutting and guzzling you never did see.
1890–1904		Farmer & Henley Sl. and Its Analogues.

2. to empty; esp. in phr. gut a quart pot, to drink the pot to the dregs; gut a house, to empty a house of its furnishings.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Gutting An House, Rifling it, Clearing it. Gutting An Oyster, Eating it.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1781		G. Parker View of Society II 139: Another of the Gang, dressed like a Lamp-lighter, puts a ladder up against the dining room window [...] a third ascends, lifts the sash, gets in, and almost immediately guts the room. As soon as they have completed this robbery, the Jumper descends.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Gutting a Quart Pot, taking out the lining of it: i.e. drinking it off. Gutting an oyster; eating it. Gutting a house; clearing it of its furniture.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1819		‘One of the Fancy’ Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress 1: Whether diddling your subjects, and gutting their fobs, [...] Taking out the contents. Thus gutting a quart pot, (or taking out the lining of it) i.e. drinking it off.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict. 16: Gutting a quart pot – drinking a pot of beer.
1848		Macaulay Hist. of England II Ch. 10 🌐 The King’s printing house [...] was, to use a coarse metaphor which then, for the first time, came into use, completely gutted.
c.1850		Duncombe New and Improved Flash Dict. n.p.: Gutting the cat drinking a quart off.
1880		Dly L.A. Herald 21 Sept. 3/4: While Dick was taking a hand in a friendly game of cards [...] the disengaged teamsters were gutting his wagon of wines, brandies, potted delicacies and all.
1901		Bulletin (Sydney) 30 Nov. 11/2: The watchman began to miss his portable valuables later. His pockets had been cleaned out, and his chest-of-drawers completely gutted.