gulp
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
-
the act of gulping.
He drank the whole bottle of beer in one gulp.
-
the amount swallowed at one time; mouthful.
verb
-
to swallow rapidly, esp in large mouthfuls
to gulp down food
-
to stifle or choke
to gulp back sobs
-
(intr) to swallow air convulsively, as while drinking, because of nervousness, surprise, etc
-
(intr) to make a noise, as when swallowing too quickly
noun
-
the act of gulping
-
the quantity taken in a gulp
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of gulp
1400–50; late Middle English gulpen (v.); compare Dutch gulpen, Norwegian glupa
Explanation
To gulp is to loudly and quickly swallow food, drink, or air. You might gulp nervously before you stand up to make a speech. When you gulp down your breakfast so you can run and catch your bus, or gulp air upon rising to the surface of a swimming pool, you can say you take a gulp — or many gulps. The word dates from the 1300s, but its origin is somewhat uncertain. Most experts link it to the imitative Dutch gulpen, "to gush, guzzle, or swallow."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It’s basically,” Meg Duff writes, “a Big Gulp with a glow-up.”
From Slate • Jan. 18, 2024
The Stanley tumbler's popularity attests to a more general trend of taste-makers toting around massive water bottles comparable to a Big Gulp in terms of fluid capacity.
From Salon • Jan. 25, 2023
The other is that these militants are generally not the sharpest tools in the drawer and might have trouble organizing anything more complicated than a Big Gulp run to 7-Eleven.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 9, 2022
The trading cards, for fake products that mimicked real ones, like Ratz Crackers, Jolly Mean Giant and Gulp Oil, were enormously popular in the 1970s, for a time outselling Topps baseball cards.
From New York Times • Dec. 5, 2022
He was wrestling with other questions as well: How is texting different from looking down to unwrap a piece of gum, or to sip from a Big Gulp?
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
