gull
English · Thesaurus
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gull¹
- /ˈɡʌl/
- /ɡʊl/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌl
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English gulle, from a Brythonic language (compare Breton gouelan, Welsh gwylan, and Cornish golan), from Proto-Brythonic *gwuɨlann, from Proto-Celtic *weilannā (“seagull”).
Cognate with Old Irish foílenn, Scottish Gaelic faoileag. Compare French goéland, a borrowing from Breton. Eclipsed Middle English lare (borrowed from Latin larus) and Middle English mewe (from Old English mæw).
noun gulls
gull²
- /ˈɡʌl/
- /ɡʊl/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌl
Where it comes from
Perhaps from an obsolete term gull (“to swallow, guzzle”), from Middle English golen (“to make swallowing motions, gape”), from Middle English gole (“throat”).
noun gulls
- A cheating trick; a fraud. BENEDICK. [Aside] I should think this a gull, but that the white-bearded fellow speaks it: knavery cannot, sure, hide itself in such reverence.
- A stupid animal.
- One easily cheated; a dupe.
- A swindler or trickster. You'll excuse me, sir, but as you are fresh, take care to avoid the gulls; they fly about here in large flocks, I assure you, and do no little mischief at times." "I never understood that gulls were birds of prey," said I.—"Only in Oxford, sir; and here, I assure you, they bite like hawks, and pick
verb gulls · gulling · gulled
- To deceive or cheat. O, but to ha' gulled him / Had been a mastery.
- To mislead.
- To trick and defraud.
- To flatter, wheedle.
gull³
- /ˈɡʌl/
- /ɡʊl/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌl
Where it comes from
From Middle English gole (“a whirlpool, narrow inlet of the sea, ditch or stream”), from Middle Low German goel, gȫl, gȫle (“swamp, marshy lowland”), related to Old Dutch gulla (“pool, puddle”), Old French goille (“pool, puddle, pond”), all ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *goli, *golljā (“puddle”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *guljaz, *guljǭ.
noun gulls · gool
- A breach or hole made by the force of a torrent; fissure, chasm.
- A channel made by a stream; a natural watercourse; running water.
verb gulls · gulling · gulled · gool
- To sweep away by the force of running water; to carve or wear into a gully.
Gull⁴
proper noun Gulls
- A surname.
Gull⁵
Where it comes from
From gull, from sea gull. In reference to the seagulls found in Torquay, a coastal town.
noun Gulls
- A player, supporter or other person connected with Torquay United Football Club.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: seagull, fish, sucker, cod, put on, shlemiel, chump, schlemiel, fool, befool, mark, fall guy, mug, soft touch, dupe, slang
Translations
Every language
noun seabird
| Español | gaviota |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 갈매기 galmaegi |
| 日本語 | 鴎 kamome, カモメ kamome, 海猫 umi-neko, ウミネコ umi-neko |
| 中文 | 海鷗 /海鸥 hǎi'ōu |
| Kiswahili | shakwe |
| Português | gaivota |
| Français | goéland, mauve, mouette |
| Deutsch | Möwe, Möwenvogel |
| Italiano | gabbiano |
| Ελληνικά | γλάρος gláros |
| Română | pescăruș |
| Русский | ча́йка čájka |
| Tiếng Việt | hải âu, mòng biển, mòng bể |
| العربية | نَوْرَس nawras |
| עברית | שחף shákhaf |
verb to deceive or cheat
| Română | păcăli, înșela |
|---|---|
| Русский | обма́нывать obmányvatʹ |
Talk about this word "gull." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gull. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. gull. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gull "gull." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gull.Cite this
@misc{gull_2026,
title = {gull},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gull},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
