gulp
/ɡʌlp/ noun, verb, interjection
Forms gulps gulping gulped
- noun The usual amount swallowed.
- noun The sound of swallowing, sometimes indicating fear.
- noun (rare, computing) An unspecified small number of bytes, often two.
- verb To swallow eagerly, or in large draughts; to swallow up; to take down in one swallow.
- verb To react nervously by swallowing.
- interjection An indication of (the sound of) an involuntary fear reaction in the form of a swallowing motion.
Synonyms
slug swig drink hydrate imbibe wet one's whistle wet one's beak ulp draft draught gulping quaff
Etymology
From Middle English gulpen, probably from West Flemish or Middle Dutch gulpen, golpen, of uncertain origin. Perhaps of imitative origin, or related to Dutch galpen (“to roar, squeal”), English galp, gaup (“to gape”).
Related to German Low German gulpen (“to gush out, belch, gulp”), West Frisian gjalpe, gjalpje, gjealpje (“to gush, spurt forth”), Danish gulpe, gylpe (“to gulp up, disgorge”), dialectal Swedish glapa (“to gulp down”), Old English galpettan (“to gulp down, eat greedily, devour”). More at galp.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To swallow eagerly, or in large draughts; to swallow up; to take down at one swallow.
- noun The act of taking a large mouthful; a swallow, or as much as is awallowed at once.
- noun A disgorging. [Colloq.]
Etymology [D. gulpen, cf. OD. golpe gulf.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “gulp”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details