In Middle French, the noun gambade referred to the frisky spring of a jumping horse. In the early 1500s, English speakers adopted the word as gambol as both a verb and a noun. (The noun means "a skipping or leaping about in play.") The English word is not restricted to horses, but rather can be used of any frolicsome creature. It is a word that suggests levity and spontaneity, and it tends to be used especially of the lively activity of children or animals engaged in active play.
Verb
lambs gamboling in the meadow
dog owners chat while their pooches gambol on the park's great lawn Noun
she and her old college roommate headed off for one final European gambol before returning to the States to start their separate careers
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Amongst the ornate grandeur of the state rooms and bedrooms, hung in with priceless tapestries and embroideries of gambolling classical Arcadian subjects and vast likenesses of Stuart kings and queens, her work is arresting at every turn.—Sarah Mower, Vogue, 1 July 2024 For California’s governor, who loves gamboling on a national stage, the whole evening was a lark.—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 1 Dec. 2023
Noun
In the winning first moments of the show, Mills gambols on as the Narrator, wielding a paint palette and, instead of a brush, a tuft of rainbow-colored gauze.—Celia Wren, Washington Post, 12 Dec. 2023 Once thought to be bipedal, hadrosaurs are now believed to have walked on all fours, though some species may have taken the occasional awkward two-legged gambol.—Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 17 Apr. 2019 See all Example Sentences for gambol
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gambol.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Verb
in part verbal derivative of gambol entry 2, in part borrowing (assimilated to the noun) from Middle French gambader, verbal derivative of gambade
Noun
earlier "leap of a horse, leap, caper," probably apocopated variant of gambold, gambald, re-formation (by association with French-derived words, as ribald entry 2, ending in the suffix -aud, -auld) of gambade, borrowed from Middle French, probably borrowed from Occitan cambado, gambado, from camba "leg" (going back to Late Latin camba, gamba) + -ado-ade — more at jamb
Share