gallop

[gal-uhp]

verb (used without object)

1. to ride a horse at a gallop; ride at full speed.

   They galloped off to meet their friends.

2. to run rapidly by leaps, as a horse; go at a gallop.

3. to go fast, race, or hurry, as a person or time.

   Synonyms: scoot, fly, speed, dash, rush, run

verb (used with object)

1. to cause (a horse or other animal) to gallop.

noun

1. a fast gait of the horse or other quadruped in which, in the course of each stride, all four feet are off the ground at once.

2. a run or ride at this gait.

3. a rapid rate of going.

4. a period of going rapidly.

gallop

/ ˈɡæləp /

verb

1. (intr) (of a horse or other quadruped) to run fast with a two-beat stride in which all four legs are off the ground at once

2. to ride (a horse, etc) at a gallop

3. (intr) to move, read, talk, etc, rapidly; hurry

noun

1. the fast two-beat gait of horses and other quadrupeds

2. an instance of galloping

Other Word Forms

• galloper noun
• outgallop verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of gallop¹

1375–1425; late Middle English galopen (v.) < Old French galoper < Frankish *wala hlaupan to run well ( well ¹, leap ) or, alternatively, verbal derivative of *walhlaup, equivalent to *wal battlefield (cognate with Old High German wal; Valkyrie ) + *hlaup run, course (derivative of the v.)

Word History and Origins

Origin of gallop¹

C16: from Old French galoper, of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

A fox watched as the mechanical creature galloped through his territory.

Read more on Literature

Yet the drama was still not over, as after getting the ball back with 54 seconds left, Williams hit rookie tight end Colston Loveland to gallop away for a 58-yard winning score.

Read more on BBC

A man had just left for his morning walk when the robot and the wolf came galloping down the street.

Read more on Literature

There I was, dribbling basketballs like a Globetrotter, diving through inter-dimensional portals, riding on the back of a galloping dinosaur in an explosive train heist.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

And Lucky’s monologue—veering inanely through realms including religion, academics and sports—is delivered by Mr. Thornton not, as it usually is, as a galloping pile of gabble, but with a musing seriousness.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• amble 
• dart 
• dash 
• hurry 
• lope 
• stride 
• trot 
• zoom