lull
Americanverb (used with object)
-
lulls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lulled,
past participle, past
-
lulling
present participle
-
to put to sleep or rest by soothing means.
to lull a child by singing.
-
to soothe or quiet.
-
to give or lead to feel a false sense of safety; cause to be less alert, aware, or watchful.
verb (used without object)
-
lulls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lulled,
past participle, past
-
lulling
present participle
noun
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lulls
plural
-
a temporary calm, quiet, or stillness.
a lull in a storm.
-
a soothing sound.
the lull of falling waters.
-
a pacified or stupefied condition.
The drug had put him in a lull.
verb
-
to soothe (a person or animal) by soft sounds or motions (esp in the phrase lull to sleep )
-
to calm (someone or someone's fears, suspicions, etc), esp by deception
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lullsimple
-
lullssimple
-
have lulledperfect
-
has lulledperfect
-
am lullingprogressive
-
are lullingprogressive
-
is lullingprogressive
-
have been lullingperfect progressive
-
has been lullingperfect progressive
Past
-
lulledsimple
-
had lulledperfect
-
was lullingprogressive
-
were lullingprogressive
-
had been lullingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lull
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English lullen, of expressive origin; compare Swedish lulla, German lullen, Latin lallāre “to sing a lullaby”
Explanation
See lull, think "calm." It could be the noun form (like "the lull before the storm") or the verb: one can lull someone by calming them (as in lulling a baby to sleep with a lullaby). The noun lull is often used in relation to a storm, but the term has a broader meaning as well. Lull can be used to describe any temporary period of calm or diminished activity, like the quiet time before the lunch rush in a restaurant or the brief period of tranquility before the doors open for a pre-Christmas sale. The word's verb form means "to soothe or to make someone feel relaxed." When used as a verb lull can turn deceptive, and it is often used to convey a false sense of security.
Vocabulary lists containing lull
List 2
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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The Cay
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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:
And despite the overall lull in the fighting, Iran fired drones at oil tankers from the United Arab Emirates, another U.S. ally, as they transited the Strait of Hormuz this month.
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
The seeming lull in job postings and hiring likely stems in part from the five-month-old conflict with Iran and the spike in oil prices.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
Mediators are using a lull in the fighting to patch together a quick fix to reopen the strait, hoping it paves the way for substantive talks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Once he established his high-end consulting firm, Reilly retained his political staffers at no small expense, even during the lull between campaigns, rather than hiring and firing them as seasonal workers, which was the norm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
At four o’clock a lull took place, and baskets remained empty, while the apple pickers rested and compared rents and bruises.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
In marking these tragic anniversaries, let’s applaud the liberty and prosperity that lulls us, while vowing to resist the totalitarian threats menacing us, be they overseas or next door.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
But against Oklahoma City, the Lakers’ lulls became an invitation for the Thunder to strike.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
It tends to go through deep lulls once customers get their drives in place and supply catches up to demand.
From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026
As families gather for the holidays, lulls in the festivities provide a calm, unhurried opportunity to have heartfelt talks.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 2, 2025
On the third afternoon of the siege of Saint-Malo, the shelling lulls, as though all the artillerymen abruptly fell asleep at their guns.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
After an initial splurge on travel and entertainment, retirees are often lulled into a sense of complacency because their spending tends to decrease during the first decade after leaving the workforce.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
I fall asleep in Salmon’s bunk bed, lulled by Dragon Masters 5: Song of the Poison Dragon.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
They are lulled into a smug confidence that his threats will always be toothless bluster.
From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2026
His point: We are being lulled into accepting “true enough” as a proxy for actual truth—while losing the habit of verifying information for ourselves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
He did not bathe himself with the gourd but would plunge into the fragrant waters and remain there for two hours floating on his back, lulled by the coolness and by the memory of Amaranta.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
When the curtain rose on opening night, audiences heard it as the opera’s opening number: Clara, seated on a dock in Charleston, gently lulling her baby to sleep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
So it was surprising that Miller’s wife, Katie Miller, started hosting a YouTube show, the purpose of which appears to be lulling viewers to sleep.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2025
It was a luxury sports car, capable of lulling you with its leathery comfort, then executing thrilling white-knuckle twists.
From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2023
Combined, they mean lulling the opponent into complacency, Mr. Pillsbury said.
From Washington Times ● May 4, 2023
He missed the lulling lub-dub but found staying awake in class and paying attention to Miss K much easier.
From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary
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.
