gull

[guhl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gull ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any of numerous long-winged, web-toed, aquatic birds of the family Laridae, having usually white plumage with a gray back and wings.

Nearby words

Origin of gull

1400–50; late Middle English gulle, perhaps < Welsh gŵylan, Cornish guilan (compare French goéland < Breton gwelan)

Related formsgull-like, adjective

gull

[guhl]

verb (used with object)

to deceive, trick, or cheat.

noun

a person who is easily deceived or cheated; dupe.

Origin of gull

First recorded in 1540–50; perhaps akin to obsolete gull to swallow, guzzle

SYNONYMS FOR gull

1. cozen, dupe, fool, bamboozle, hoodwink.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gull ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gull

Yes, and a terrible lie—designed to gull money from a generous, unsuspecting public.
Colonel of Truth: The KFC Hoax and the Idiocy of Crowdfunding for Bullying Victims|Scott Bixby|June 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Gull introduced Mortenson to the villagers as being a medical doctor and professor at an American medical college.
We Never Kidnapped Greg Mortenson|Ron Moreau, Sami Yousafzai|April 18, 2011|DAILY BEAST
A new purchase at some monster sale for which a gull has been mulcted.
Ulysses|James Joyce
The Albatross is peculiar to the south as the gull to the north.
Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life|Thomas Wallace Knox

He is on the shore of Gull Lake, a seven-mile-long, one-mile-wide lake.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Forty-Second Annual Meeting|Northern Nut Growers Association
But in the depths of her crystal she saw always a sunlit sea and a gull's wings flashing.
Athalie|Robert W. Chambers
The gull presses hard upon the smaller bird, and Jack at last, after many a turn and twist, drops his treasure.
A West Country Pilgrimage|Eden Phillpots

British Dictionary definitions for gull

gull

noun

any aquatic bird of the genus Larus and related genera, such as L. canus (common gull or mew) having long pointed wings, short legs, and a mostly white plumage: family Laridae, order CharadriiformesRelated adjective: larine

Derived Formsgull-like, adjective

Word Origin for gull

C15: of Celtic origin; compare Welsh gwylan

noun

a person who is easily fooled or cheated

verb

(tr) to fool, cheat, or hoax

Word Origin for gull

C16: perhaps from dialect gull unfledged bird, probably from gul, from Old Norse gulr yellow

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 gull

gull

n.1

shore bird, early 15c. (in a cook book), probably from Brythonic Celtic, cf. Welsh gwylan "gull," Cornish guilan, Breton goelann; all from Old Celtic *voilenno-. Replaced Old English mæw (see mew (n.1)).

gull

n.2

cant term for "dupe, sucker, credulous person," 1590s, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from verb meaning "to dupe, cheat" (1540s), earlier "to swallow" (1520s), ultimately from gull "throat, gullet" (early 15c.); see gullet. Or it is perhaps from (or influenced by) the bird (see gull (n.1)); in either case with a sense of "someone who will swallow anything thrown at him." Another possibility is Middle English dialectal gull "newly hatched bird" (late 14c.), which is perhaps from Old Norse golr "yellow," from the hue of its down.

gull

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of gull

gull

verb (used with object)

noun

Origin of gull

Examples from the Web for gull

gull

noun

Word Origin for gull

noun

verb

Word Origin for gull

gull

gull