: a skipping or leaping about in play
Did you know?
In Middle French, the noun gambade referred to the frisky spring of a jumping horse. In the early 1500s, English speakers adopted the word as gambol as both a verb and a noun. (The noun means "a skipping or leaping about in play.") The English word is not restricted to horses, but rather can be used of any frolicsome creature. It is a word that suggests levity and spontaneity, and it tends to be used especially of the lively activity of children or animals engaged in active play.
Synonyms
Examples of gambol in a Sentence
Verb
lambs gamboling in the meadow
dog owners chat while their pooches gambol on the park's great lawn
Noun
she and her old college roommate headed off for one final European gambol before returning to the States to start their separate careers
Recent Examples on the Web
Sarah Mower, Vogue, 1 July 2024
For California’s governor, who loves gamboling on a national stage, the whole evening was a lark.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 1 Dec. 2023
Celia Wren, Washington Post, 12 Dec. 2023
Once thought to be bipedal, hadrosaurs are now believed to have walked on all fours, though some species may have taken the occasional awkward two-legged gambol.
—Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 17 Apr. 2019
See all Example Sentences for gambol 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Verb
Amongst the ornate grandeur of the state rooms and bedrooms, hung in with priceless tapestries and embroideries of gambolling classical Arcadian subjects and vast likenesses of Stuart kings and queens, her work is arresting at every turn.
—Sarah Mower, Vogue, 1 July 2024
For California’s governor, who loves gamboling on a national stage, the whole evening was a lark.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 1 Dec. 2023
Noun
In the winning first moments of the show, Mills gambols on as the Narrator, wielding a paint palette and, instead of a brush, a tuft of rainbow-colored gauze.
—Celia Wren, Washington Post, 12 Dec. 2023
Once thought to be bipedal, hadrosaurs are now believed to have walked on all fours, though some species may have taken the occasional awkward two-legged gambol.
—Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 17 Apr. 2019
See all Example Sentences for gambol
Dictionary Entries Near gambol
Cite this Entry
“Gambol.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gambol. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share