gulp
/ɡʌlp/noun, verb, interjection
gulp is spelled G-U-L-P: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, gulp means “The usual amount swallowed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of gulp is gulps.
How many letters and syllables are in gulp?
| Letters | 4: G-U-L-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,549th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is gulp?
Gulp appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th 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 gulp?
- /ɡʌlp/
Gulp 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-au-gulp.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with gulp?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as gulp.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: plug.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of gulp
- gulps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- gulping participle, present
- gulped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gulp mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The usual amount swallowed.
- 2
The sound of swallowing, sometimes indicating fear.
- 3
rareAn unspecified small number of bytes, often two.
verb
- 1
To swallow eagerly, or in large draughts; to swallow up; to take down in one swallow.
- 2
To react nervously by swallowing.
interjection
- 1
An indication of (the sound of) an involuntary fear reaction in the form of a swallowing motion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gulp in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | gorgée, trait |
| German | Schluck , schlucken , schlingen, verschlingen |
| Portuguese | gole |
| Spanish | trago, tucún, buche, lapo, bochinche , glup |
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 gulp come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).