gulp
Americanverb (used without object)
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gulps,
present (3rd person singular)
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gulped,
past participle, past
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gulping
present participle
verb (used with object)
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gulps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
gulped,
past participle, past
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gulping
present participle
noun
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gulps
plural
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the act of gulping.
He drank the whole bottle of beer in one gulp.
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the amount swallowed at one time; mouthful.
verb
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to swallow rapidly, esp in large mouthfuls
to gulp down food
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to stifle or choke
to gulp back sobs
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(intr) to swallow air convulsively, as while drinking, because of nervousness, surprise, etc
-
(intr) to make a noise, as when swallowing too quickly
noun
-
the act of gulping
-
the quantity taken in a gulp
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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gulpsimple
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gulpssimple
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have gulpedperfect
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has gulpedperfect
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am gulpingprogressive
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are gulpingprogressive
-
is gulpingprogressive
-
have been gulpingperfect progressive
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has been gulpingperfect progressive
Past
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gulpedsimple
-
had gulpedperfect
-
was gulpingprogressive
-
were gulpingprogressive
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had been gulpingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of gulp
1400–50; late Middle English gulpen (v.); compare Dutch gulpen, Norwegian glupa
Explanation
To gulp is to loudly and quickly swallow food, drink, or air. You might gulp nervously before you stand up to make a speech. When you gulp down your breakfast so you can run and catch your bus, or gulp air upon rising to the surface of a swimming pool, you can say you take a gulp — or many gulps. The word dates from the 1300s, but its origin is somewhat uncertain. Most experts link it to the imitative Dutch gulpen, "to gush, guzzle, or swallow."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A.I. writing is now in my water supply, whether I can identify each new gulp or not.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
One court warned that public nuisance would become “a monster that would devour in one gulp the entire law of tort.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Again, it's not just the losses that might be making some Celtic fans gulp.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
Or, like many enterprising DIYers, you could go to L.A.’s downtown Flower District, save some money and — gulp — do your flowers yourself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2024
I gulp down the thoughts that are super close to spilling out of my mouth.
From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée
As we open the gate, Matt visibly gulps.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2025
ChatGPT gulps roughly a 16-ounce bottle in as few as 10 queries, calculates Shaolei Ren, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Riverside, and his colleagues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2024
“Often they feed by diving to the bottom and sifting big gulps of sediment through their baleen, consuming the amphipods in great numbers,” Milstein said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2024
Two brothers survived by rationing bodybuilding supplements, drinking their own urine and swallowing gulps of air.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2023
Sophia gulps down another vial of Belle-rose elixir and climbs back onto the treatment bed.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Trout, their speckled flanks gleaming in the sun, gulped them down one by one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
“The money question remains as to how many barrels vacated by India will be gulped up by the Chinese teapots,” Raj said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2025
When concert halls around the country shuttered their doors and gulped with anxiety about the pandemic future — this was March 2020, not that anyone has forgotten — Martha Gilmer saw an opportunity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2024
"The ocean changed steadily and started encroaching the hotel. The last standing cottage was gulped by the sea in 2019, marking the end of my glorious hotel," Italian businessman Mr Macri told the BBC.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2024
"Just sat in the window and lit a match to them and let the little—" I gulped.
From "Miracle's Boys" by Jacqueline Woodson
Bass frequently resorted to her trademark nervous laughter and repeated obviously crafted lines with all the enthusiasm of someone gulping down cod oil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Nearby, crowds huddled in thin strips of shade outside pavilions, gulping free bottles of water that workers were distributing throughout the event.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
“You feel feverish, feel pain, and get tons of headaches. Once you’re at home, the pain starts. In you shoulders, back and arms,” Ródriguez said, gulping down water during a break.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2024
The sensation is extremely unnatural and unpleasant, but I prefer sleeping with that discomfort over being so tired that I have to squeeze naps into my day like a dehydrated man gulping water.
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2023
O-lan brought them food and the women brought their men food, and the men ate standing in the field, gulping it down as beasts do, as they worked night and day.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.