Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

gully

/ˈɡʌli/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.11 in modern English

Syllables
gul-ly
IPA
/ˈɡʌli/
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside.

noun

A small valley.

noun

A drop kerb.

British usage

noun

A road drain.

noun

A fielding position on the off side about 30 degrees behind square, between the slips and point; a fielder in such a position

noun

A grooved iron rail or tram plate.

British usage

verb

To flow noisily.

Obsolete

verb

To wear away into a gully or gullies.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

Etymology

Origin uncertain. Possibly from a variant of Middle English golet (“esophagus, gullet”), from Old French goulet, from Latin gula (“throat”). Shift in meaning in Middle English to "water channel, ravine" may have been influenced by Middle English gylle, gille, galle (“deep narrow valley, ravine”); see gill. Compare Dutch geul. Alternatively, from a diminutive of dialectal gull (“fissue, chasm”) + -y (diminutive suffix). See gull, gullick.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Usage

Inflected Forms

gullies (plural) gulley (alternative) gullies (present, singular) gullying (participle, present) gullied (participle, past) gullied (past) Gullys (plural)

Derived Forms

gullick gulligut gullywasher

Phrases

California Gully Carey Gully Charlton Gully Cherry Gully Coopers Gully fern gully Ferntree Gully Flowery Gully

Frequently Paired Words

gullet hully gully

Synonyms

gill box

Homonyms

gali

Rhymes With

scully sully tully mccully cully gulley culley sculley gali dully

Questions

How do you pronounce gully?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɡʌli/.
What does gully mean?
A trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside.
Where does gully come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce gully

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “gully”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɡʌli/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “gully”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “gully” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.