gallop

verb gal·lop \ ˈga-ləp \

Updated on: 22 Apr 2018

intransitive verb

1 : to progress or ride at a gallop

2 : to run fast

transitive verb

1 : to cause to gallop

2 : to transport at a gallop

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galloper

noun

See gallop defined for English-language learners

See gallop defined for kids

Examples of gallop in a Sentence

The horse galloped toward us.
He mounted his horse and galloped off to sound the alarm.
She galloped her horse toward us.
I grabbed my books and galloped out the door.
The program gallops through early American history.

Recent Examples of gallop from the Web

Just imagine a galloping horse on a crowded sidewalk.

— leah garchik, San Francisco Chronicle, "A new reason to step lively on the streets of San Francisco? Horses," 17 Apr. 2018
Puerto Rico is facing a galloping mental health crisis.

— doyle rice, USA TODAY, "Hurricane names Harvey, Irma and Maria officially 'retired'," 12 Apr. 2018
Correa launched a stand-up, two-run, inside the park home run in the first inning, galloping around the basepaths with no discernible impediment.

— chandler rome, Houston Chronicle, "Astros shortstop Carlos Correa set to start on ring ceremony day despite last night's injury," 4 Apr. 2018
The company has been galloping ahead of its competitors despite recent disasters in the autonomous driving world.

— andrew j. hawkins, The Verge, "Waymo and Honda reportedly will build a self-driving delivery vehicle together," 2 Apr. 2018
The galloping rise in American oil production up to 2014 caught many traditional oil producers off guard and contributed to a rapid increase in global oil stocks to unsustainably high levels.

— The Economist, "When the sun sets on oilThe Middle East and Russia are ill-prepared for a low-carbon future," 15 Mar. 2018
Without Cousins, the Pelicans have played at the league’s No. 1 pace, relying heavily on three-guard lineups and turning Davis loose as a galloping mismatch.

— ben golliver, SI.com, "With the Pelicans Finally Clicking, Can Anthony Davis Steal MVP?," 9 Mar. 2018
Grit TV is back on Milwaukee airwaves, exactly two months after the digital subchannel programming service galloped off into the sunset.

— chris foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Grit TV returns to Milwaukee's airwaves — on Channel 4.4," 8 Mar. 2018
With no hesitation, the right back gallops up to the ball, before leathering it with untethered power back across the goal and into the corner.

— SI.com, "World Cup Countdown: 12 Weeks to Go - The Goal That Defined the Legendary 1970 Brazil Team," 1 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gallop.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of gallop

Middle English galopen, walopen, borrowed from Anglo-French galoper, gualoper (Picard dialect waloper), perhaps going back to Old Low Franconian *wala hlaupan, literally "to run well," from *wala "well, with good appearance or effect" (going back to Germanic *welō) + *hlaupan "to run," going back to Germanic *hlaup-a- — more at ³well, ¹leap

Note: An alternative explanation sees the Old French noun as primary, and derived from Old Low Franconian *walhlaup-, from *wal- "battlefield" and *hlaup-, a nominal derivative of *hlaupan (hence alluding to a warriorʼs manner of riding on the battlefield). Though the meaning of the first noun is reflected in Old High German wal "battlefield," the general meaning of the Germanic etymon is "the slain, the dead in battle" (see valhalla).

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

gallop Synonyms

Synonyms

dash, jog, run, sprint, trip, trot;

Near Antonyms

amble, saunter, shamble, shuffle, stroll;

crawl, creep, dally, dawdle, dillydally, drag, lag, linger, loiter, poke, tarry;

lumber, plod, trudge;

hobble, limp;

barrel, belt, blast, blaze, blow, bolt, bowl, breeze, bustle, buzz, cannonball, careen, course, foot (it), hasten, hie, hoof (it), hotfoot (it), hump, hurl, hurry, hurtle, hustle, jet, leg (it), pelt, race, ram, rip, rocket, rush, rustle, shoot, speed, tear, whirl, whisk, zip, zoom;

scoot, scurry, scuttle, step (along);

gallop

noun

1 : a bounding gait of a quadruped; specifically : a fast natural usually 4-beat gait of the horse — compare ³canter, run

2 : a ride or run at a gallop

3 : a stretch of land suitable for galloping horses

4 : a rapid or hasty progression or pace

See gallop defined for English-language learners

Examples of gallop in a Sentence

The horse was at full gallop.
He mounted his horse and took off at a gallop.
We went for a gallop through the countryside.

Recent Examples of gallop from the Web

Then, there are competitions involving jumping or simulated fox hunts or showmanship involving trots and gallops and Spanish walks.

— jera brown, Marie Claire, "Inside the Wild World of "Pony Play" Sex," 20 Dec. 2017
Michigan's gallop through the postseason ran into Villanova on Monday night in San Antonio.

— nick baumgardner, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan basketball can't solve Villanova, special season terminated," 3 Apr. 2018
The subtle depiction of Don Quixote awakening, and the mezzo-piano gallop of the Don asleep (dreaming of knightly conquests?) were nicely done.

— special to the plain dealer, cleveland.com, "Apollo's Fire heats up CIM in warm-up for Carnegie Hall debut (review)," 19 Mar. 2018
The horses abruptly turned and, at full gallop, returned to the barn.

— benjamin oreskes, latimes.com, "Essential California: A count of L.A. County's homeless begins," 25 Jan. 2018
He wasn’t touched on the initial 33 yards of his march toward the end zone, a gallop that cut the Chiefs’ lead to 21-16.

— sam mcdowell, kansascity, "Derrick Henry runs wild in second half of Titans’ comeback | The Kansas City Star," 6 Jan. 2018
The narrative gallops on to Mesopotamia, Nineveh, clay tablets, cuneiform and Gilgamesh.

— john sutherland, New York Times, "We Are What We Read," 2 Jan. 2018
The pianist Bill Evans is often typed for his moody lyricism, but this 1968 session—the tapes only recently unearthed—finds him in buoyant spirits, his Ravelian harmonies opened up to full gallop.

— fred kaplan, Slate Magazine, "The Best Jazz Albums of 2017," 15 Dec. 2017
But his long gallop was one of few offensive highlights for the Lions, who were held to 204 total yards.

— mark wright, star-telegram, "McKinney’s record-breaker can’t do it alone against No. 1 Allen," 28 Oct. 2017

Origin and Etymology of gallop

borrowed from Middle French & Anglo-French galop, noun derivative of galoper "to ¹gallop"; replacing Middle English walop, borrowed from Anglo-French walop, galop

Note: Alternatively, the noun could be original, and the verb a derivative of the noun. See note at ¹gallop.

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1523

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

GALLOP Defined for English Language Learners

gallop

verb

of a horse or similar animal : to run very fast : to run at a gallop
: to ride on a galloping horse
: to make (a horse) gallop

gallop

noun

: the way a horse or similar animal moves when it is running fast and all four of its feet leave the ground at the same time
: a ride or run at a gallop