gambol

American  

[gam-buhl] / ˈgæm bəl /

verb (used without object)

gamboled, gamboling, gambolled, gambolling

1. to skip about, as in dancing or playing; frolic.

   Synonyms:

   romp, frisk, caper, spring

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noun

1. a skipping or frisking about; frolic.

gambol British  

/ ˈɡæmbəl /

verb

1. (intr) to skip or jump about in a playful manner; frolic

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noun

1. a playful antic; frolic

Etymology

Origin of gambol

1495–1505; earlier gambold, gambald, gamba(u)de, from Middle French gambade, variant of gambado ² ( def. )

Explanation

To gambol is to run around playing excitedly. Although the word sounds like "gamble," when you gambol you never lose — you just have a great time! If you've ever sprinted around, jumping up and down, yelling "woo-hoo!," you already know how to gambol. Being really excited or even just slap-happy makes people gambol, and it's so energizing that animals do it too. Dogs gambol when they rise on two legs to greet each other, and squirrels gambol when they chase each other up and down trees. And when springtime comes after a long winter, it seems to make every living thing gambol with extra life.

Example Sentences

All I can tell you is that when the Hogwarts Express first came to be—Ottaline Gambol herself offered me this job .

From "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling

She keeps talking about letting down Ottaline Gambol.

From "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling

Next in the trace, comes Gambol in place; And, to make my tale the shorter, My son Hercules, tane out of Distaff-lane, But an active man, and a porter.

From In The Yule-Log Glow, Book IV by Morris, Harrison S. (Harrison Smith)

Here is no tint of mortal change; the day,— Beneath whose light the dog and peasant-boy Gambol, with look, and almost bark, of joy,— Still seems, though centuries have passed, to stay.

From The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. 1 With Memoir, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes by George Gilfillan by Gilfillan, George

The Junior Gambol came to an end at six that evening, and the tired students repaired to their rooms to rest and relax after eight hours of continuous entertaining.

From Molly Brown's Junior Days by Speed, Nell

Related Words

• cavort
• frolic
• prance