lull
/lʌl/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms lulls lulling lulled
- noun A period of rest or soothing.
- noun A period of reduced activity; a respite.
- noun (nautical) A period without waves or wind.
- noun (surfing) An extended pause between sets of waves.
- verb (transitive) To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm
- verb (intransitive) To become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate. “The storm lulled.”
- verb (transitive) To give somebody a false sense of security so that an unpleasant situation takes the person by surprise. “They lulled us into thinking we still had time.”
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
soothe quiet appease letup calm down calm tranquilize tranquillize tranquillise quieten still
Etymology
From Middle English lullen, lollen. Originally, perhaps expressive in origin from la-la-la or lu-lu-lu sounds made in calming a child. Compare Finnish laulaa (“to sing”) and Hiligaynon lala (“to sing a lullaby”).
Cognate with Scots lul, lule, loll (“to lull, put to sleep, howl, caterwaul”), Dutch lollen (“to sing badly, caterwaul”), Dutch lullen (“to chatter, prate, cheat, deceive”), Low German lullen (“to lull”), German lullen (“to lull”), Danish lulle (“to lull, sing to sleep”), Swedish lulla (“to lull”), Icelandic lúlla (“to lull”).
* As a German surname, from personal names based on Leute (“people, population”).
* As a Catalan surname, spelling variant of Llull.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm; to soothe; to quiet. " To lull him soft asleep." Spenser.
- verb To become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate for a time; as, the storm lulls.
- noun The power or quality of soothing; that which soothes; a lullaby.
- noun A temporary cessation of storm or confusion.
Etymology [Akin to OD. lullen to sing to sleep, G. lullen, Dan. lulle, Sw. lulla; all of imitative origin. Cf. Loll, Lollard.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “lull”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details