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

---

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

---

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 don't think I have seen my team on the gallop look so well, but they are racing well."

From BBC • Mar. 11, 2026

Slot stood watching in disbelief in stoppage time when Sergino Dest was allowed to gallop clear and cross to Driouech for a clinical finish.

From Barron's • Nov. 26, 2025

The hotel’s grounds will include a well-known feature from the original racetrack, the life-size bronze sculpture of jockey Billy Shoemaker riding famed racehorse Swaps at full gallop that greeted bettors for decades.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 11, 2024

While still very much an open world, with fields to gallop across and deep canyons and caves to plunge into, Shadow of the Erdtree bends toward the layer-cake-like level design of the original Dark Souls.

From New York Times • Jun. 18, 2024

“Every morning you made beautiful bead necklaces and I read you stories. We had hundreds and hundreds of books. Every afternoon we rode horses that could gallop so fast, we felt like we were flying.”

From "The Bridge Home" by Padma Venkatraman

Related Words

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