gallop

verb gal·lop \ ˈga-ləp \

|Updated on: 16 Jun 2018

Examples: gallop in a Sentence

galloped; galloping; gallops

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

The big chestnut colt breezed through an impressive workout, covering four furlongs in 46.80 seconds and galloping out in 59.60 seconds.

— jason frakes, The Courier-Journal, "Once again, the rain doesn't slow Justify in Tuesday's Belmont workout," 29 May 2018
The group balances kitsch with earnest adoration, injecting twangy surf-guitar licks and wheezing Farfisa organ riffs into galloping polyrhythms.

— peter margasak, Chicago Reader, "Sonido Gallo Negro transform mambo, cumbia, and more with retro kitsch and postmodern flair," 17 May 2018
The septet trades their more hard-hitting hip hop for poppier fare, while their flow lightens in step with the galloping beat of the song.

— billboard staff, Billboard, "The 100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks," 23 Apr. 2018
Like attempting to fit three players on a galloping horse, with flamethrowers.

— megan farokhmanesh, The Verge, "Battlefield V’s creators: female characters are ‘here to stay’," 25 May 2018
With a growing urban population and galloping energy demand, the nation’s legendary smogs were responsible for 1.6 million extra deaths in 2015, according to non-profit Berkeley Earth.

— Bloomberg.com, "Electric Buses Are Hurting the Oil Industry," 23 Apr. 2018
Moreover, Justify is 3-for-3 in his career, was visually impressive in winning the Santa Anita Derby, has looked comfortable galloping over the Churchill Downs track and is trained by four-time Derby winner Bob Baffert.

— dan wolken, USA TODAY, "Favorite Justify won't win Kentucky Derby, but here's the horse that will," 3 May 2018
The animals stretched far into the distance, their nodding, bearded heads as ungainly as their galloping gait.

— sophy roberts, Condé Nast Traveler, "The Ultimate Safari: Seeing the Great Migration in Kenya and Tanzania," 25 Apr. 2018
Or maybe a barn with the doors open and horses galloping away.

— mark zeigler, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Can you put the college back in college basketball?," 25 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

In this way, the race was a rerun of American Pharoah’s victory in 2015, a long gallop around the massive oval called Big Sandy, towing a field of lessers in his wake whose jockeys and trainers were left with an impossible conundrum.

— tim layden, SI.com, "It's Instinctive to Compare Justify's Triple Crown to American Pharoah's but Both Share Connection to Greatness," 10 June 2018
Trainer Bob Baffert was getting impatient Thursday morning waiting for the painfully slow tractors to finish conditioning the track so Justify could start his morning gallop.

— john cherwa, latimes.com, "Distance is part of the mystique of the Belmont Stakes," 9 June 2018
Justify turned in another strong gallop Friday in his final preparation for a Triple Crown bid in the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes.

— Houston Chronicle, "Justify turns in 'smooth' gallop in final Belmont drill," 8 June 2018
Quip set off down the backstretch on his mile-long gallop, comfortably hitting each furlong in about 18 seconds, his normal galloping pace.

— david gendelman, New York Times, "How to Prepare a Horse for the Preakness," 12 May 2018
At the film’s climax, a troop of white-robed Klansmen gallop to the rescue and eventually assist in preventing blacks from voting, restoring white rule in the South.

— david s. reynolds, WSJ, "‘Reconstruction’ Review: A Dream Deferred," 21 May 2018
Courier Journal Eighty-two years old and forever young, D. Wayne Lukas still greets the dawn at a gallop.

— tim sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "Back in the Kentucky Derby, veteran trainer D. Wayne Lukas' finish line is nowhere in sight," 27 Apr. 2018
While my own face trudges along steadily, my toddler’s face progresses with a gallop, looking ever more beautiful (to me) and in need of just a little bit of care.

— jen gann, The Cut, "I Love Taking Care of My Toddler’s Face Because I’m Tired of Mine," 24 Apr. 2018
Dean traverses the intellectual landscape of the 20th century at an easy gallop — the boozy cocktail parties; the plotting of editors in their offices; the literary and political trench wars, aggressive essays thrown across the breach like grenades.

— laura jacobs, New York Times, "Ten Women Whose Tongues and Pens Were as ‘Sharp’ as Knives," 11 Apr. 2018

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