gambol
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
verb
noun
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.
Vocabulary lists containing gambol
Animal Farm
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Hot to Trot: Animal Ambulation
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Her puppies gambol around her, looking healthy and excited, but everyone else seems momentarily stunned by this story.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 30, 2023
"They are dying so that you can gambol in your redwood cabinets," he said while addressing the government.
From BBC • May 5, 2023
Concerns about health, safety and inclusion are driving new trends in the annual gambol of ghouls and goblins.
From Washington Times • Oct. 19, 2022
But as they gambol about the moors in those early years, it’s the joy they take in each other, and the freedom they feel together, that forms a bond so unbreakable it transcends death.
From New York Times • Oct. 18, 2022
"No more shall any laugh there," wrote the poet, "or children gambol; music is choked, the Irish language chained."
From Irish Nationality by Green, Alice Stopford
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
