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Glite Dictionary
🐎 A fast horse 🎠 A fairground ride
galloper

galloper

7.9
A fairground ride with horse-shaped seats that move up and down as it turns
  • noun
  • /ˈɡæl.ə.pər/
  • UK
translation icon : caballito
  • The children queued eagerly to ride the shiny new galloper at the summer fair.

Examples

  • She chose her favorite galloper and waved to her parents as the ride began to spin.

  • Each galloper on the ride was painted in bright colors and decorated with gold trim.

  • The galloper spun around joyfully at the fair.

  • Children love riding the gallopers at the amusement park.

  • The children queued eagerly to ride the shiny new galloper at the summer fair.

  • Each galloper on the ride was painted in bright colors and decorated with gold trim.

  • She chose her favorite galloper and waved to her parents as the ride began to spin.

Synonyms

carousel
vsgalloper
23 2.1

A large rotating ride with seats often shaped like animals that children ride on

highlights vertical movement of the seats during the ride
merry-go-round
vsgalloper
5 3.0

A round ride with seats shaped like animals that turns for people to sit on

emphasizes vertical movement of the seats during the ride

Surface Forms

galloper singular
gallopers plural

Morphology

galloper = gallop (semi-transparent) = gallop + er

Formed from 'gallop' + '-er' so the connection to galloping horses is clear, but the specialised sense referring to a fairground ride (one of the horse seats) is a cultural/metonymic extension that may not be obvious to learners.

Etymology

Galloper comes from the verb gallop, which means 'to run fast'. At fairs the horse-shaped seats move up and down and spin like running horses, and that image is why each fairground horse is called a galloper.