The AI-powered English dictionary
plural gulps
The usual amount swallowed. quotations examples
What the liquor was I do not know, but it was not so strong but that I could swallow it in great gulps and found it less burning than my burning throat.
1898, J. Meade Falkner, chapter 4, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934
The sound of swallowing, sometimes indicating fear. quotations examples
Little Stanislovas was also trembling, and all but too frightened to speak. "They — they sent me to tell you — " he said, with a gulp.
1905, Upton Sinclair, chapter XVII, in The Jungle, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 26 February 1906
Indeed, the envisioned future should produce a bit of "the gulp factor" […] , there should be an almost audible "gulp".
1994, James Charles Collins, Jerry I. Porras, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
(rare, computing) An unspecified small number of bytes, often two.
third-person singular simple present gulps, present participle gulping, simple past and past participle gulped
To swallow eagerly, or in large draughts; to swallow up; to take down in one swallow. examples
To react nervously by swallowing. quotations examples
The man eyed Percy with a chilly eye. "Well," he said, "What's troublin you?" Percy gulped. The man's mere appearance was a sedative. "Er-nothing! […]"
1930, P. G. Wodehouse, A Damsel in Distress, published 2004, page 198
I'd always been nervous-excited; this was nervous-terrified. When I finished puking, I sat down gulping air for a while, trying to pull myself together.
2003, Carl Deuker, High Heat, page 140
My heart was beating madly and I was gulping nervous energy.
2006, Nancy Anne Nicholson, Thin White Female in No Acute Distress: A Memoir, page 187
An indication of (the sound of) an involuntary fear reaction in the form of a swallowing motion. quotations examples
"Honey, I know you want to go to their home next week, but there's one thing that keeps happening when we're together that really drives me away from social gatherings in general. (Oh, what is it … gulp.) Well, I'm not sure I can really explain it without offending you. (Gulp, gulp.) Do you really want to talk about it? (Yes.) […]"
1982, Gary Smalley, If Only He Knew, page 163