English Dictionary |
GURGLE
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
IPA (US): |
Dictionary entry overview: What does gurgle mean?
• GURGLE (noun)
The noun GURGLE has 1 sense:
1. the bubbling sound of water flowing from a bottle with a narrow neck
Familiarity information: GURGLE used as a noun is very rare.
• GURGLE (verb)
The verb GURGLE has 4 senses:
1. flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise
2. make sounds similar to gurgling water
3. drink from a flask with a gurgling sound
4. utter with a gurgling sound
Familiarity information: GURGLE used as a verb is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
The bubbling sound of water flowing from a bottle with a narrow neck
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural events
Hypernyms ("gurgle" is a kind of...):
sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)
Derivation:
gurgle (make sounds similar to gurgling water)
gurgle (flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise)
Conjugation: |
Past simple: gurgled
Past participle: gurgled
-ing form: gurgling
Sense 1
Meaning:
Flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Synonyms:
babble; bubble; burble; guggle; gurgle; ripple
Context example:
babbling brooks
Hypernyms (to "gurgle" is one way to...):
go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)
Verb group:
gurgle (make sounds similar to gurgling water)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Derivation:
gurgle (the bubbling sound of water flowing from a bottle with a narrow neck)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Make sounds similar to gurgling water
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Context example:
The baby gurgled with satisfaction when the mother tickled it
Hypernyms (to "gurgle" is one way to...):
go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)
Verb group:
babble; bubble; burble; guggle; gurgle; ripple (flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Derivation:
gurgle (the bubbling sound of water flowing from a bottle with a narrow neck)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Drink from a flask with a gurgling sound
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
Synonyms:
guggle; gurgle
Hypernyms (to "gurgle" is one way to...):
drink; imbibe (take in liquids)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Sense 4
Meaning:
Utter with a gurgling sound
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Context example:
'Help,' the stabbing victim gurgled
Hypernyms (to "gurgle" is one way to...):
emit; let loose; let out; utter (express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words))
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Context examples
The tiny stream slipping down the mossy-lipped stone seemed suddenly to increase the volume of its gurgling noise. Save for the meadow-larks, there was no other sound.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Sometimes this gurgle became sibilant, almost a whistle.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
A gurgling sound that comes from the back of the throat of a dying person.
(Death rattle, NCI Dictionary)
The lapping of water. It is gurgling by, and little waves leap. I can hear them on the outside.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
It made little audible gurgles which distracted me.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
It ended suddenly on its highest note with a choke and a gurgle.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Vell, the Eytalian ’e got a touch of the gurgles, an’ ’e shut ’imself right up like a two-foot rule.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was a cheery companion, gurgling and chuckling as it ran, like the dear old trout-stream in the West Country where I have fished at night in my boyhood.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
At one time the moon, which had before been clear, was suddenly overspread by a thick cloud, and I took advantage of the moment of darkness and cast my basket into the sea; I listened to the gurgling sound as it sank and then sailed away from the spot.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Something gurgled and moaned.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past, Wisdom is of the future." (Native American proverb, Lumbee)
"No crowd ever waited at the gates of patience." (Arabic proverb)
"Just toss it in my hat and I'll sort it to-morrow." (Dutch proverb)