Meanings
lull1
plural lulls
- A period of rest or soothing.
- A period of reduced activity; a respite.
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, […].
1959 October 28, T. W. E. Roche, “Traffic Working at Dover Marine Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 682 - nauticalA period without waves or wind.
[…] during the lull, wind shifted to S. E. […]
1839, The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1839, page 262 more examples
After the lull the wind does not appear to have blown with any great strength […]
1875, W. G. Wilson, Report of the Midnapore and Burdwan Cyclone of the 15th and 16th of October 1874, page 74The air under each cloud has spent time near the surface, has been slowed and backed by friction—it is a lull.
2016, David Houghton, Fiona Campbell, Wind Strategy, not paginated - hobbiesAn extended pause between sets of waves.
It is advisable to leave the surf zone during the lull between sets of larger waves, waiting outside the surf zone for a lull.
1992, John Warlaumont, The Noaa Diving Manual, page 19-191 more example
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.
808surfer.com forum (password needed)
present singular third person lulls · participle present lulling · participle past lulled · past lulled
- transitiveTo cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm
To lull him soft a sleepe
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 302 more examples
Such ſweet compulſion doth in muſick ly, / To lull the daughers of Neceſſity,
1634, John Milton, “Arcades”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 54To lull with song an aching heart
1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 57 - intransitiveTo become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate.
The storm lulled.
- transitiveTo give somebody a false sense of security so that an unpleasant situation takes the person by surprise.
They lulled us into thinking we still had time.
1 more example
[…] similarly, the empiriocritics' opposition to religion was a fraud intended to lull the vigilance of the proletariat and lead it by different paths in the same direction as religious mythology.
1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 452
Lull2
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
nouna pause during which things are calm or activities are diminished
verbmake calm or still
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
lull · noun, verb
- Middle Englishlullen
- Englishlull
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”).
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Lull · proper noun
* As a German surname, from personal names based on Leute (“people, population”). * As a Catalan surname, spelling variant of Llull.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βαυκαλάω
- βαυκαλάω (baukaláō)to cause to rest
Bulgarian затишие, успокоявам
- затишие (zatišie)a period without waves or wind.
- успокоявам (uspokojavam)to cause to rest
- приспивам (prispivam)to cause to rest
- утихвам (utihvam)to become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate
Chinese Mandarin 催眠
- 催眠 (cuīmián)to cause to rest
Czech ukolébat
- ukolébatto cause to rest
Dutch pauze, rust
- pauzea period of rest
- rusta period of rest
- kalmerento cause to rest
- in slaap wiegento cause to rest
Finnish tuudittaa
- tuudittaato cause to rest
French pause, bonace
- pausea period of rest
- bonacea period without waves or wind.
- calmea period without waves or wind.
- apaiserto cause to rest
- bercerto cause to rest
- calmerto cause to rest
German Windstille, Flaute
- Windstillea period without waves or wind.
- Flautea period without waves or wind.
- beruhigento cause to rest
Hungarian elringat
- elringatto cause to rest
Irish snag
- snaga period of rest
Italian quiete, pausa
- quietea period of rest
- pausaa period of rest
- calmaa period of rest
- intervalloa period of rest
- sostaa period of rest
- calma piattaa period without waves or wind.
- stasia period without waves or wind.
- bonacciaa period without waves or wind.
- calmeriaa period without waves or wind.
- calmaa period without waves or wind.
- fare la ninna nannato cause to rest
- fare addormentareto cause to rest
- indurre al sonnoto cause to rest
- cullareto cause to rest
- ninnareto cause to rest
Latin quiēs
- quiēsa period of rest
Māori whakanā, whakanewha
- whakanāto cause to rest
- whakanewhato cause to rest
- oriorito cause to rest
Persian لالا کردن
- لالا کردن (lâlâ kardan)to cause to rest
Polish lulać
- lulaćto cause to rest
Portuguese descanso, folga
- descansoa period of rest
- folgaa period of rest
- calmariaa period without waves or wind.
- embalarto cause to rest
Russian зати́шье, переры́в
- зати́шье (zatíšʹje)a period of rest
- переры́в (pererýv)a period of rest
- па́уза (páuza)a period of rest
- о́тдых (ótdyx)a period of rest
- переку́р (perekúr)a period of rest
- штиль (štilʹ)a period without waves or wind.
- зати́шье (zatíšʹje)an extended pause between sets of waves.
- убаю́кивать (ubajúkivatʹ)to cause to rest
- убаю́кать (ubajúkatʹ)to cause to rest
- успока́ивать (uspokáivatʹ)to cause to rest
- успоко́ить (uspokóitʹ)to cause to rest
- усыпля́ть (usypljátʹ)to cause to rest
- усыпи́ть (usypítʹ)to cause to rest
- затиха́ть (zatixátʹ)to become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate
- зати́хнуть (zatíxnutʹ)to become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate
Spanish arrullar, adormecer
- arrullarto cause to rest
- adormecerto cause to rest
Swedish stiltje, stiltje
- stiltjea period of rest
- stiltjea period without waves or wind.
- vyssjato cause to rest
- lullato cause to rest
- vaggato cause to rest
- bedarrato become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate
- avtato become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate
Tamil தாலாட்டு, உறக்கு
- தாலாட்டு (tālāṭṭu)to cause to rest
- உறக்கு (uṟakku)to cause to rest
- துயிற்று (tuyiṟṟu)to cause to rest
- அடங்கு (aṭaṅku)to become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate
Thai กล่อม
- กล่อม (glɔ̀m)to cause to rest
Turkish ara, sükûnet
- araa period of rest
- sükûneta period of rest
- yatıştırmakto cause to rest
- dinmekto become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate
Vietnamese ru
- ruto cause to rest
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with lull
All rhymes →Cite this entry
lull. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lull
“lull.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lull. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lull,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lull.
Source: lull on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.