lull
/lʌl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.08 in modern English
4
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To give somebody a false sense of security so that an unpleasant situation takes the person by surprise.
Transitive verb
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "After this departure there is a lull—one can almost feel the weary station breathing thankfulness!—broken only by the car-sleeper departing at 10.25 from Platform 6 […]. There is normally another lull from 1.45 to 4.30 a.m. till the daily round begins again, […]."
- "[…] during the lull, wind shifted to S. E. […]"
- "After the lull the wind does not appear to have blown with any great strength […]"
- "The air under each cloud has spent time near the surface, has been slowed and backed by friction—it is a lull."
- "It is advisable to leave the surf zone during the lull between sets of larger waves, waiting outside the surf zone for a lull."
- "About 2 hours in, a long lull cleared everyone out, and then it started getting a little more consistent and pushing chest ta neck high."
Etymology
From Middle English lullen, lollen. Originally, perhaps expressive in origin from la-la-la or lu-lu-lu sounds made in calming a child. Compare Finnish laulaa (“to sing”) and Hiligaynon lala (“to sing a lullaby”). Cognate with Scots lul, lule, loll (“to lull, put to sleep, howl, caterwaul”), Dutch lollen (“to sing badly, caterwaul”), Dutch lullen (“to chatter, prate, cheat, deceive”), Low German lullen (“to lull”), German lullen (“to lull”), Danish lulle (“to lull, sing to sleep”), Swedish lulla (“to lull”), Icelandic lúlla (“to lull”).