overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

gallop.

The fastest gait of a horse, a two-beat stride during which all four legs are off the ground simultaneously.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɡæləp/
  1. The fastest gait of a horse, a two-beat stride during which all four legs are off the ground simultaneously.

  2. An act or instance of going or running rapidly.

  3. An abnormal rhythm of the heart, made up of three or four sounds, like a horse's gallop.

  4. A rhythm consisting of an 8th note followed by two 16th notes, resembling a horse's gallop.

    A gallop rhythm: \drums{\repeat unfold4{wbl8wbh16 16
Where this word comes from

From Middle English galopen (“to gallop”), from Old French galoper (compare modern French galoper), from Frankish *wala hlaupan (“to run well”), from *wala (“well”) + *hlaupan (“to run”), from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną (“to run, leap, spring”), from Proto-Indo-European *klaup-, *klaub- (“to spring, stumble”). Possibly also derived from a deverbal of Frankish *walhlaup (“battle run”) from *wal (“battlefield”) from a Proto-Germanic word meaning "dead, victim, slain" from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“death in battle, killed in battle”) + *hlaup (“course, track”) from *hlaupan (“to run”). More at well, leap, valkyrie. See also the doublet wallop, coming from the same source through an Old Northern French variant.

verb/ˈɡæləp/
  1. To run at a gallop.

    intransitive
    The horse galloped past the finishing line.
  2. To ride at a galloping pace.

    intransitive
  3. To cause to gallop.

    transitive
    to gallop a horse
  4. To make electrical or other utility lines sway and/or move up and down violently, usually due to a combination of high winds and ice accrual on the lines.

    ambitransitive
  5. To run very fast.

    intransitive
  6. To go rapidly or carelessly, as in making a hasty examination.

    figuratively · intransitive
  7. To progress rapidly through the body.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English galopen (“to gallop”), from Old French galoper (compare modern French galoper), from Frankish *wala hlaupan (“to run well”), from *wala (“well”) + *hlaupan (“to run”), from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną (“to run, leap, spring”), from Proto-Indo-European *klaup-, *klaub- (“to spring, stumble”). Possibly also derived from a deverbal of Frankish *walhlaup (“battle run”) from *wal (“battlefield”) from a Proto-Germanic word meaning "dead, victim, slain" from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“death in battle, killed in battle”) + *hlaup (“course, track”) from *hlaupan (“to run”). More at well, leap, valkyrie. See also the doublet wallop, coming from the same source through an Old Northern French variant.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

gallop has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

gallop studiogallop workshello, gallop

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.