gull¹ Definition
gull (gul)
noun pl. gulls or gull
any of various shorebirds of a worldwide family (Laridae), with large wings, slender legs, webbed feet, a strong, hooked bill, and feathers of chiefly white and gray
Etymology: ME < Celt, as in Cornish gullan, Welsh gwylan, Bret gwelan
gull² Definition
gull (gul)
noun
a person easily cheated or tricked; dupe
Etymology: ME gulle, silly fellow, lit., unfledged bird < gul, yellow < ON gulr, akin to goll, gold
transitive verb
to cheat or trick; dupe
gull Synonyms
gull Usage Examples
Converse of object
- roost: An adult Mediterranean Gull was among the roosting gulls.
- nest: The terrain changed with the broad green levels around the cobbled pavements of the raised beaches alive with nesting gulls.
- tail: Go to the pier ( fishmarket ) in the port to make pictures Band tailed gulls.
- breed: It was designated for its estuaries and adjacent coastal habitats, which are important for breeding gulls, terns and wintering waterfowl.
- wheel: Colin Parker Tumbling clouds, wheeling gulls... You see, the scenery has a poetic effect on you!
- head: Gulls were a welcome site among the Black Headed Gulls on the flood.
Adjective modifier
- black-headed: A few Black-headed Gulls were resting on the slow flowing river.
- yellow-legged: On the main lagoon, there only appeared to be Yellow-legged Gulls on my visits.
- black-backed: The best-known case is herring gull versus lesser black-backed gull.
- ring-billed: At least one adult Ring-billed gull was among them.
- slender-billed: We saw a flock of 24 slender-billed gulls in a pool on the beach next to the platform.
- glaucous: A glaucous gull was reported from the ARC site this morning.
Modifies a noun
- chick: Herring gull chicks peck at a red spot on their parents's bill to induce their parents to regurgitate food.
- colony: We will stop at a seal and sea gull colony in Spring Passage.
- wing: Its most striking feature is the inverted gull wing.
- specie: There is normally a good congregation of the commoner gull species around the ponds or roosting on the golf course.
- population: Tuesday 12 July 2005 A large raptor soared over St Leonards on Sea today causing the gull population to explode with anxiety.
Noun used with modifier
Browse dictionary entries near gull
- ‹ gulfweed
- ‹ Gulf War syndrome
- ‹ Gulf War
- ‹ Gulf Stream
- ‹ Gulf States
- ‹ gulf
- ‹ gules
- ‹ gulden
- ‹ gulch
- ‹ gular
- Gullah ›
- gullet ›
- gullible ›
- Gulliver's Travels ›
- gully ›
- gulosity ›
- gulp ›
- gum ›
- gum ammoniac ›
- gum arabic ›

