gurgle
Americanverb (used without object)
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gurgles,
present (3rd person singular)
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gurgled,
past participle, past
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gurgling
present participle
verb (used with object)
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gurgles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gurgled,
past participle, past
-
gurgling
present participle
noun
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gurgles
plural
verb
-
(of liquids, esp of rivers, streams, etc) to make low bubbling noises when flowing
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to utter low throaty bubbling noises, esp as a sign of contentment
the baby gurgled with delight
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gurglesimple
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gurglessimple
-
have gurgledperfect
-
has gurgledperfect
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am gurglingprogressive
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are gurglingprogressive
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is gurglingprogressive
-
have been gurglingperfect progressive
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has been gurglingperfect progressive
Past
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gurgledsimple
-
had gurgledperfect
-
was gurglingprogressive
-
were gurglingprogressive
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had been gurglingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gurgle
First recorded in 1555–65; compare Dutch, Middle Low German gorgelen, German gurgeln “to gargle”; akin to Latin gurguliō “throat”
Explanation
To gurgle is to make a sound like bubbling or splashing water. Not to be confusing, but when you gargle mouthwash, you probably gurgle. People gurgle when they say something (or make a noise) with an accompanying wet, gurgling sound. Your stomach might gurgle too, especially when you're hungry. And liquid itself gurgles, like a stream that gurgles over rocks or sweet iced tea that gurgles from a bottle into your glass. Experts aren't sure if gurgle is an imitative word, from the sound itself, or if it's rooted in Latin.
Vocabulary lists containing gurgle
Instead of "Said": Words That Sound Like What They Mean
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Lend Me Your Ears: Sound Words
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Ghost Boys
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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.
See Examples For:
Its tick was a low-key gurgle and the alarm a dignified two-bell chime.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
As the 14th-ranked Utes took a two-score lead into the fourth quarter Saturday at the Coliseum, that familiar heartbreak that struck a season ago in Salt Lake City seemed to gurgle up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2023
She expected to hear icebergs calving off the glacier—perhaps even the low, garden-hose gurgle of a subglacial river gushing out from underneath the glacier.
From National Geographic ● Sep. 7, 2023
But the last time I called, he could only gurgle on the phone, having suffered a stroke.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 24, 2023
I stood in the middle of the cabin, listening to the gurgle of the saltwater fountain and the ocean waves outside.
From "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan
Hardened globs of crude cling to fishing nets pulled from the lake, and natural gas gurgles up from busted underwater pipelines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
On a visit to a Texas ostrich farm, the researchers recorded 11 types of calls, ranging from high frequency peeps and gurgles in baby ostriches to low frequency boos and booms in adult males.
From Science Daily ● May 23, 2024
They also sound very different — while humpback whales are known for their haunting songs, gray whales make gurgles, grunts and croaks.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2024
They spent the night in cabins with no doors or windows, the better to let nighttime mountain breezes and the gurgles of the river lull them to sleep.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2023
Mrs. Trepid was intrigued by the way they clung to each other, and the way they responded to each other’s gurgles, and the way they reached for each other when they were separated.
From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech
The waterway gurgled steadily, but the flow was not as violent as on Monday, when water spilled out on the adjacent Olive Mill Road.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2023
One-year-old Dilesh gurgled happily, playing with others who work there, while Netam answered questions from Poyam: “What will the doctor ask me? Do I need documents? Can my husband come to visit me?”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2022
In a dull and childless marriage to “a bastard of the standard-issue variety,” she is biding her time at Goode’s, her life “slipping away with the rinsing water as it gurgled down the plughole.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2020
She recalls trying to say “stop what are you doing,” but it came out as a gurgled mess.
From The Verge ● Nov. 29, 2017
The electric mechanism, within its compellingly authentic-style gray pelt, gurgled and blew bubbles, its vidlenses glassy, its metal jaws locked together.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
As a child, Franzoy often went tubing on the river or splashed with playmates in gurgling irrigation canals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Is that his dad’s voice Jay hears gurgling from the beast’s belly?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Soon Conor’s two preoccupations will unite in an offbeat way when a bug gets crushed in his slow-acting printer while it’s gurgling out a portrait.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
The court heard how fire crews were alerted to the presence of a woman by a gurgling sound.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2024
My stomach is making gurgling noises, and I’m standing there praying that she doesn’t hear them.
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
