gully

Meaning

Noun

1. A trench, ravine or narrow channel which was worn by water flow, especially on a hillside.
2. A small valley.
3. (UK) A drop kerb.
4. A road drain.
5. A fielding position on the off side about 30 degrees behind square, between the slips and point; a fielder in such a position
6. (UK) A grooved iron rail or tram plate.

Verb

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

Synonyms

ravine

ditch

gorge

valley

gutter

canyon

gulch

drain

precipice

pool

gap

trench

gullet

crevice

chasm

moat

pit

watercourse

Little Creek

mountain stream

donga

crack

kettle hole

collecting gutter

mid on

mid off

brook

gully drain

cleft

cliff

comb

coulee

couloir

creek

crevasse

dingle

drainpipe

gulley

hollow

involve

opening

stream

sump

vale

Translations

barranco

hondonada

burrone

ravin

Schlucht

Rinne

Abzugskanal

solco

ravine

Schlammfang

Senkloch

gola

bergkloof

barranca

zanja

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɡʌli/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: golet

In summary

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.