Library / English Dictionary

GULP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A large and hurried swallow

Example:

he finished it at a single gulp

Synonyms:

draft; draught; gulp; swig

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("gulp" is a kind of...):

deglutition; drink; swallow (the act of swallowing)

Derivation:

gulp (to swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A spasmodic reflex of the throat made as if in swallowing

Synonyms:

gulp; gulping

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("gulp" is a kind of...):

inborn reflex; innate reflex; instinctive reflex; physiological reaction; reflex; reflex action; reflex response; unconditioned reflex (an automatic instinctive unlearned reaction to a stimulus)

Derivation:

gulp (to swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Utter or make a noise, as when swallowing too quickly

Example:

He gulped for help after choking on a big piece of meat

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "gulp" is one way to...):

mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

gulping (a spasmodic reflex of the throat made as if in swallowing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To swallow hurriedly or greedily or in one draught

Example:

The men gulped down their beers

Synonyms:

gulp; quaff; swig

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Hypernyms (to "gulp" is one way to...):

drink; imbibe (take in liquids)

"Gulp" entails doing...:

get down; swallow (pass through the esophagus as part of eating or drinking)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue gulp

Derivation:

gulp (a large and hurried swallow)

gulp (a spasmodic reflex of the throat made as if in swallowing)

gulper (a drinker who swallows large amounts greedily)

gulping (the drinking of large mouthfuls rapidly)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I'm thinkin' that maybe Sam Bloxam could tell ye summut." I asked if he could tell me where to find him. I told him that if he could get me the address it would be worth another half-sovereign to him. So he gulped down the rest of his tea and stood up, saying that he was going to begin the search then and there. At the door he stopped, and said:—Look 'ere, guv'nor, there ain't no sense in me a-keepin' you 'ere. I may find Sam soon, or I mayn't; but anyhow he ain't like to be in a way to tell ye much to-night.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

As this was a great deal for the carrier (whose name was Mr. Barkis) to say—he being, as I observed in a former chapter, of a phlegmatic temperament, and not at all conversational—I offered him a cake as a mark of attention, which he ate at one gulp, exactly like an elephant, and which made no more impression on his big face than it would have done on an elephant's.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Between gulps of the molten stuff I glanced down at my raw and bleeding chest and turned to the Scandinavian.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The other was dawdling with the bottle, and Martin refused to wait for him, tossing the glass off in a gulp and refilling it.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

But my child—For a moment he seemed choked, and a great sob rose in his throat; he gulped it down and went on:—There are here some who would stand between you and death. You must not die.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A roar of delight from his audience, with stamping of feet and beating of blackjacks against the ground, showed how thoroughly the song was to their taste, while John modestly retired into a quart pot, which he drained in four giant gulps.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Out of the corner of his eye Gatsby saw that the blocks of the sidewalk really formed a ladder and mounted to a secret place above the trees—he could climb to it, if he climbed alone, and once there he could suck on the pap of life, gulp down the incomparable milk of wonder.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)