gull

IPA/ɡʌl/
KK[ɡˈʌl]IPA/ɡʌl/

gull — noun

  • gullsingular
  • gullsplural

1. a grey, white, or black coastal bird with long wings, often seen flying over bea

1.nounB1
Definition

a grey, white, or black coastal bird with long wings, often seen flying over beaches, harbours, and fishing boats

Example

Wren pointed at a gull stealing chips from a bench by the beach.

gull + stealing food near the beach

A gull circled above the fishing boat until Hao threw a small crab back.

gull + circled above [boat]

Common collocations
  • a flock of gulls
  • gulls circle overhead
Synonyms
  • seagull

    common everyday word, especially for coastal gulls seen by the public

  • tern

    a different seabird that is slimmer and more sharply built

Usage Note

Often used for the familiar grey-and-white birds people notice around beaches, harbours, and rubbish bins. In careful bird writing, species names may be more specific.

2. a person who trusts too easily and is therefore simple to cheat

2.nounC2
Definition

a person who trusts too easily and is therefore simple to cheat

Example

The ticket scammer saw Eli as an easy gull and kept calling him.

easy gull = someone easy to cheat

No one wanted to be the gull who paid first for the fake trip.

Common collocations
  • an easy gull
Synonyms
  • dupe

    more formal and often used in writing about deception

  • sucker

    more informal and often more insulting

  • easy target

    plain everyday phrase rather than a single noun

Usage Note

This sense is uncommon and somewhat literary or old-fashioned. In everyday speech, speakers more often use words such as sucker or easy target.

gull — verb

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

"Gull" is the standard general name for this bird family, while "seagull" is the everyday popular word many people use for the same birds, especially near beaches. In careful writing, "gull" is often better because some species live inland as well as on the coast. "Tern" names a different but related seabird that is slimmer, lighter, and usually more sharply pointed in shape and flight. "Seabird" is the broadest term of all: it can refer to gulls, terns, puffins, and many other birds that spend much of their lives near the sea. If you mean the familiar grey-and-white bird stealing food on the beach, both "gull" and "seagull" are natural choices.

gull ↗seagull ↗tern ↗seabird

Etymology

CelticWelshBretonEnglish

The bird name "gull" is very old in the languages spoken around the British coast. English is thought to have taken it from a Celtic source related to Welsh gwylan and Breton gwelan, both meaning a gull. Later English also developed figurative uses for a person who is easy to cheat and for the act of cheating someone. Those later meanings are much newer than the original bird sense.