Meanings
gully1
present singular third person gullies · participle present gullying · participle past gullied · past gullied
- obsoleteTo flow noisily.
- transitiveTo wear away into a gully or gullies.
gully2
plural gullies
- NorthernScotlandUKA large knife.
With that I made my mind up, took out my gully, opened it with my teeth, and cut one strand after another[…]
1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part IV (The Stockade), page 139
Gully3
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside.
nounA fielding position on the off side about 30 degrees behind square, between the slips and point; a fielder in such a position
Origin
gully · noun, verb
- Latingula“throat”
- Old Frenchgoulet
- Middle Englishgolet“esophagus, gullet”
- Englishgully
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.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →gully · noun
- Scotsgully
- Englishgully
From Scots gully, of unknown origin.
More words from Scots
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek χαράδρα
- χαράδρα (kharádra)a trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
Bulgarian дере, овраг
- дере (dere)a trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- овраг (ovrag)a trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- канавка (kanavka)A road drain
Czech žleb, úžlabina
- žleba trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- úžlabinaa trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- strouhaa trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- úžlabinaA small valley
- rokleA small valley
- žlebA small valley
- úzké údolíA small valley
- strouhaA road drain
Dutch geul
- geula trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
Finnish rotko, notkelma
- rotkoa trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- notkelmaA small valley
- ojaA road drain
French ravine
- ravinea trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
German Erosionsrinne, Wasserfurche
- Erosionsrinnea trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- Wasserfurchea trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- Wasserrinnea trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- Grabena trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- GullyA road drain
Hungarian vízmosás, árok
- vízmosása trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- ároka trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- árokA small valley
- szakadékA small valley
Icelandic skorningur
- skorningura trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
Italian calanco
- calancoa trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
Māori kōawaawa, kowaka
- kōawaawaa trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- kowakaa trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- pararia trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- kopiaA small valley
Norwegian Bokmål ravine
- ravinea trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
Polish parów, wąwóz
- parówa trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- wąwóza trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- dolinkaA small valley
- żlebA road drain
Portuguese corgo
- corgoa trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
Russian ложби́на, промо́ина
- ложби́на (ložbína)a trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- промо́ина (promóina)a trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- буера́к (bujerák)a trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- ры́твина (rýtvina)a trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- вы́моина (výmoina)a trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- кулуар (kuluar)a trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
Spanish barranco
- barrancoa trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
Turkish çukur, çukur
- çukura trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
- çukurA small valley
Ukrainian яр
- яр (jar)a trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with gully
All rhymes →Cite this entry
gully. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gully
“gully.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gully. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gully,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gully.
Source: gully on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.