gulley

[guhl-ee]

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noun, plural gul·leys.

gully¹(defs 1, 2).

gulley

[guhl-ee, goo l-ee]

noun, plural gul·leys. Scot. and North England.

gully².

gully

or gul·ley

[guhl-ee, goo l-ee]

noun, plural gul·lies. Scot. and North England.

a knife, especially a large kitchen or butcher knife.

Origin of gully

First recorded in 1575–85; origin uncertain

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

Related Words for gulley

cut, ditch, gap, trench, channel, gorge, valley, arroyo

Examples from the Web for gulley

Historical Examples of gulley

The aliens edged their way to a gulley along the side of the road.
Jubilation, U.S.A.
G. L. Vandenburg
I looked through the passage and saw that the gulley was black with baboons.
Allan's Wife
H. Rider Haggard
She went on till she came to a dip, or gulley, when a break in the cliff occurred.
The Ferryman of Brill
William H. G. Kingston
Soon some thirty of them had met with this fate, and the gulley was full to overflowing.
In the grip of the Mullah
F. S. Brereton
Page 19: "gulley" changed to "gully" (on either side by a gully).
The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley
Harlan Ingersoll Smith

British Dictionary definitions for gulley

gully

gulley

noun plural -lies or -leys

a channel or small valley, esp one cut by heavy rainwater

NZ a small bush-clad valley

a deep, wide fissure between two buttresses in a mountain face, sometimes containing a stream or scree

cricket

a fielding position between the slips and point
a fielder in this position

either of the two channels at the side of a tenpin bowling lane

verb -lies, -lying or -lied

(tr) to make (channels) in (the ground, sand, etc)

Word Origin for gully

C16: from French goulet neck of a bottle; see gullet

gully

noun plural -lies

Scot a large knife, such as a butcher's knife

Word Origin for gully

C16: of obscure 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 gulley

gully

"channel made by running water," 1650s, possibly a variant of Middle English golet "water channel" (see gullet). Gully-washer, American English colloquial for "heavy rainstorm," attested by 1887.

gulley in Science

gully

[gŭl′ē]

A narrow, steep-sided channel formed in loose earth by running water. A gully is usually dry except after periods of heavy rainfall or after the melting of snow or ice.