gull

UK: /ˈgʌl/ US: /gʌl/ ,(gul)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

gull¹ /gʌl/   n. 

1. Birds [countable] a long-winged water-dwelling bird, typically white with gray or black upper wings and back.

gull² /gʌl/   v. [~ + object]

1. to deceive, trick, or cheat:
   The crooks gulled him out of his life's savings.

n. [countable]

2. a person who is easily deceived or cheated;
   dupe.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

gull¹  (gul), n. 

1. any of numerous long-winged, web-toed, aquatic birds of the family Laridae, having usually white plumage with a gray back and wings.

• Breton gwelan)
• Welsh gŵylan, Cornish guilan (compare French goéland
• late Middle English gulle, perh. 1400–50

gull′-like′, adj. 

gull²  (gul), v.t. 

1. to deceive, trick, or cheat.

n. 

2. a person who is easily deceived or cheated;
   dupe.

• perh. akin to obsolete gull to swallow, guzzle 1540–50

Synonyms

• 1. cozen, dupe, fool, bamboozle, hoodwink.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

gull / ɡʌl/ noun

1. any aquatic bird of the genus Larus and related genera, such as L. canus (common gull or mew) having long pointed wings, short legs, and a mostly white plumage: family Laridae, order Charadriiformes

Etymology: 15th Century: of Celtic origin; compare Welsh gwylan

gull / ɡʌl/ noun

1. a person who is easily fooled or cheated

verb

1. (transitive) to fool, cheat, or hoax

Etymology: 16th Century: perhaps from dialect gull unfledged bird, probably from gul, from Old Norse gulr yellow