lull
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to put to sleep or rest by soothing means.
to lull a child by singing.
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to soothe or quiet.
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to give or lead to feel a false sense of safety; cause to be less alert, aware, or watchful.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a temporary calm, quiet, or stillness.
a lull in a storm.
-
a soothing sound.
the lull of falling waters.
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a pacified or stupefied condition.
The drug had put him in a lull.
verb
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to soothe (a person or animal) by soft sounds or motions (esp in the phrase lull to sleep )
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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
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has lulledperfect
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am lullingprogressive
-
are lullingprogressive
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is lullingprogressive
-
have been lullingperfect progressive
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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:
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
The crowds were a welcome boon for the bartenders, enlivening what is usually a lull at Joxer Daly’s, which is away from the beaches and beer gardens where customers gather in the summer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
"Instead of a summer lull, the meeting promises one last clash between the hawks and doves before anyone reaches for the sunscreen," said Brzeski.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
There was a lull in the South Africa scoring as Wales battled to hang on and the hosts proved unusually wasteful in the tourists' 22.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Clinking plates and the sound of steaming milk fill the lull.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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
He heads to Kohl’s and FedEx along the route to make some returns during lulls in scheduled pickups, clearing space as he heads to get more orders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
As families gather for the holidays, lulls in the festivities provide a calm, unhurried opportunity to have heartfelt talks.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 2, 2025
But that terminal expansion plan has been paused because of lulls in demand.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2025
At lulls in the game he would stretch his legs out, twine his hands across his lap, and stare at the radio as it spoke to him.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
I fall asleep in Salmon’s bunk bed, lulled by Dragon Masters 5: Song of the Poison Dragon.
From Slate ● May 10, 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
By the time we crossed into Arizona that first night, I was back in my roomette nodding off, lulled like a baby atop a washing machine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025
Perhaps the greatest highlight of her set came towards the end of the evening, as she lulled the crowd into an almost dreamlike state with Snooze.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2025
Again, the crickets and frogs lulled him and his mind drifted into another storm and burst of Petey, and again, only the sound of strange footsteps kicked him out of his dreams.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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’s a mood exacerbated by every lulling re-emergence of composer Ishibashi’s searching score — which always gets interrupted, as if a plug had been pulled.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2024
Combined, they mean lulling the opponent into complacency, Mr. Pillsbury said.
From Washington Times ● May 4, 2023
He felt the words on the page lulling him to go deeper into the adventure.
From "Clayton Byrd Goes Underground" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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.
