gallop

American  

[gal-uhp] / ˈgæl əp /

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

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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 British  

/ 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

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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)

Etymology

Origin of gallop

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.)

Example Sentences

I glance down at the water, certain that the hooves of the two thousand wild horses galloping through my chest are making ripples in the water.

From Literature

Every once in a while, she reverted to all fours and galloped to catch up with Clare, who was moving briskly, his burgundy cloak billowing behind him.

From Literature

Hundreds of Venezuelan workers and pensioners marched Monday for an increase in "hunger" wages as well as pensions frozen for four years and eroded by galloping inflation.

From Barron's

The bear had been going at a gallop, as the pattern of prints was reversed, with the man-shaped hind tracks in front of the broader front tracks.

From Literature

I ignored her and tracked the Ford as it wove through the traffic, my heart galloping in my chest.

From Literature

Related Words

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