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galloping

[gal-uh-ping]
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adjective
  1. at a gallop; running or moving quickly.
  2. progressing rapidly to some conclusion, as a disease: galloping pneumonia.
  3. growing or spreading rapidly: galloping inflation.
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Origin of galloping

First recorded in 1595–1605; gallop + -ing2
Related formsun·gal·lop·ing, adjective

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.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to cause (a horse or other animal) to gallop.
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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.
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Origin of gallop

1375–1425; late Middle English galopen (v.) < Old French galoper < Frankish *wala hlaupan to run well (see well1, leap) or, alternatively, verbal derivative of *walhlaup, equivalent to *wal battlefield (cognate with Old High German wal; see Valkyrie) + *hlaup run, course (derivative of the v.)
Related formsgal·lop·er, nounout·gal·lop, verb (used with object)

Synonyms

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3. run, rush, dash, speed, fly, scoot.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

zoomdartdashstridelopehurryambletrotshootcanterrushruncoursecareerspringjumppaceleapflyhurdle

Examples from the Web for galloping

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Diablo was cutting down the lead the other two held over him, galloping like a demon.

    Thoroughbreds

    W. A. Fraser

  • Pride held me there, for I heard the sound of galloping hoofs.

    A Woman Tenderfoot

    Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson

  • And the thunder of galloping hoofs was more menacing than that of the cannon.

    The Rock of Chickamauga

    Joseph A. Altsheler

  • What do you mean by galloping along the king's highway like that, eh?'

    Barnaby Rudge

    Charles Dickens

  • Here they found a man or two who had seen the galloping horse and its rider.

    Louisiana Lou

    William West Winter

British Dictionary definitions for galloping

galloping

adjective
  1. (prenominal) progressing at or as if at a gallopgalloping consumption
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gallop

verb -lops, -loping or -loped
  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
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Derived Formsgalloper, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Old French galoper, of uncertain origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for galloping

gallop

v.

early 15c., from Middle French galoper (12c.), cognate of Old North French waloper, from Frankish *wala hlaupan "to run well" (see wallop). Related: Galloped; galloping.

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gallop

n.

1520s, from gallop (v.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
galloping in Medicine

gallop

(găl′əp)
n.
  1. A triple cadence to the heart sounds at rates of 100 beats per minute or more due to an abnormal third or fourth heart sound being heard in addition to the first and second sounds.gallop rhythm
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.