gull
/ˈɡʌl/noun, verb
gull is spelled G-U-L-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,918th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, gull means “A seabird of the genus Larus or of the subfamily Larinae” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of gull is gulls.
How many letters and syllables are in gull?
| Letters | 4: G-U-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.0 times per million words; the 28,918th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is gull?
Gull appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,918th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gull?
- /ˈɡʌl/
- /ɡʊl/
Gull has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-gull.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of gull
- gulls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- gulling participle, present
- gulled participle, past
- gool
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gull mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A seabird of the genus Larus or of the subfamily Larinae.
- 2
Any of various pierid butterflies of the genus Cepora.
- 3
slangA cheating trick; a fraud.
- 4
A stupid animal.
- 5
One easily cheated; a dupe.
- 6
obsoleteA swindler or trickster.
- 7
A breach or hole made by the force of a torrent; fissure, chasm.
- 8
A channel made by a stream; a natural watercourse; running water.
verb
- 1
To deceive or cheat.
- 2
USslangTo mislead.
- 3
USslangTo trick and defraud.
- 4
To flatter, wheedle.
- 5
To sweep away by the force of running water; to carve or wear into a gully.
noun
- 1
A player, supporter or other person connected with Torquay United Football Club.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gull in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense seabird:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does gull come from?
Inherited from Middle English gulle, from a Brythonic language (compare Breton gouelan, Welsh gwylan, and Cornish golan), from Proto-Brythonic *gwuɨlann, from Proto-Celtic *weilannā (“seagull”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).