Gulley or gully?
gulley is a noun meaning “Alternative spelling of gully (Etymology 1)”; gully is a noun meaning “A trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on…”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) gully is about 11 times as common as gulley.
What is the difference between gulley and gully?
| gulley | gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | Alternative spelling of gully (Etymology 1) Alternative spelling of gully | A trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside A small valley To wear away into a gully or gullies |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | gulleys | gullies |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈɡʌli/ |
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words | 1.3 times per million words |
Sources: gulley and gully in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of gulley and gully
gulley
- 1
Alternative spelling of gully (Etymology 1)
- 2
Alternative spelling of gully
gully
- 1
A trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- 2
To wear away into a gully or gullies
- 3
ScotlandUKA large knife
- 4
A small valley
- 5
UKA drop kerb
- 6
A road drain
- 7
A fielding position on the off side about 30 degrees behind square, between the slips and point; a fielder in such a position
- 8
UKA grooved iron rail or tram plate
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, gulley or gully?
gulley appears about once in every 9 million words; gully 1.3 times per million words.
gulley about once in every 9 million wordsgully 1.3 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).