gully

See also: Gully

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: gŭl'ē, IPA^(key): /ˈɡʌli/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌli

Etymology 1

(etymology 1, noun sense 1) Gully

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.

Noun

gully (plural gullies)

2. A trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside.

   Synonym: gill

3. A small valley.
4. (UK) A drop kerb.
5. A road drain.
   • 2021 June 16, “Network News: Drainage work at Guiseley station”, in RAIL, number 933, page 19:

     A new drainage run and rainwater gullies are to be installed between the station and Oxford Road, with completion planned for December 1.

6. (cricket) A fielding position on the off side about 30 degrees behind square, between the slips and point; a fielder in such a position

   Synonym: box

7. (UK) A grooved iron rail or tram plate.

Alternative forms

• gulley

Derived terms

• California Gully
• Carey Gully
• Charlton Gully
• Cherry Gully
• Coopers Gully
• Fern Gully
• Ferntree Gully
• Flowery Gully
• Geegully Creek
• Golden Gully
• Green Gully
• gullick
• gulligut
• gully bean
• gully eductor
• gully emptier
• gully gut
• gully hole, gully-hole
• gully-raker
• gully sucker
• gully trap
• gully wash
• gullywasher
• Hacketts Gully
• Horsnell Gully
• Jones Gully
• Kangaroo Gully
• Long Gully
• Maiden Gully
• Northern Gully
• Pile Gully
• Red Gully
• Rocky Gully
• Rudds Gully
• Sailors Gully
• Sandy Gully
• Sawyers Gully
• Sheedys Gully
• Smiths Gully
• Spring Gully
• State Mine Gully
• Tea Tree Gully
• Upper Ferntree Gully
• Waterfall Gully

Related terms

• gullet

Descendants

• → French: gollé
• → German: Gully

Translations

a trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside

• Bulgarian: дере (bg) n (dere), овраг (bg) m (ovrag)
• Czech: žleb m, úžlabina f, strouha f
• Dutch: geul (nl) f
• French: ravine (fr) f
• Galician: corgo (gl) m, caivanca f, carronzo m, carriozo m
• Georgian: ხევი (xevi)
• German: Erosionsrinne f, Wasserfurche f, Wasserrinne f, Graben (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: χαράδρα f (kharádra)

• Hungarian: vízmosás (hu), árok (hu)
• Icelandic: skorningur m
• Italian: calanco (it) m
• Kabuverdianu: barrónke, baranku
• Māori: kōawaawa, kowaka (if it contains no water), parari
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ravine m

  Nynorsk: ravine m

• Plautdietsch: Schälran f
• Polish: parów (pl) m, wąwóz (pl) m
• Portuguese: corgo (pt) m
• Russian: ложби́на (ru) f (ložbína), промо́ина (ru) f (promóina), буера́к (ru) m (bujerák), ры́твина (ru) f (rýtvina), вы́моина (ru) f (výmoina), кулуар (ru) m (kuluar)
• Spanish: barranco (es) m
• Turkish:

  Ottoman Turkish: بوغاز (boğaz), دره (dere)

• Ukrainian: яр (uk) m (jar)
• Yagara: pilla

A small valley

• Czech: úžlabina f, rokle (cs) f, žleb m, úzké údolí
• Hungarian: árok (hu), szakadék (hu)
• Māori: kopia
• Polish: dolinka (pl) f

A road drain

• Bulgarian: канавка (bg) f (kanavka)
• Czech: strouha f
• German: Gully (de) m
• Polish: żleb (pl) m

Verb

gully (third-person singular simple present gullies, present participle gullying, simple past and past participle gullied)

1. (obsolete) To flow noisily.
2. (transitive) To wear away into a gully or gullies.

Etymology 2

From Scots gully, of unknown origin.

Noun

gully (plural gullies)

1. (Scotland, northern UK) A large knife.
   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part IV (The Stockade), page 139:

     With that I made my mind up, took out my gully, opened it with my teeth, and cut one strand after another […]

Further reading

• gully on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Gullies And Other Knives

See also

• hully gully (probably etymologically unrelated)

Scots

Etymology

Unknown.

Noun

gully (plural gullies)

1. large knife

   God than he lewch and owre the dyk lap, / And owt of his scheith his gully owtgatt. (The Bannatyne Manuscript)