🕊️ A seabird 🙈 An easy victim 🃏 To trick

to gull

2 8.9

To trick someone into believing something false

verb
/ɡʌl/

: engañar

The con artist attempted to gull the tourists with a phony charity scam.
easily gulled
gulled people

What it does is it presents itself in terms that are meant to, how shall I put it to gull and fool people into thinking that Hamas is somehow dealable with?

Examples

If Mr. Collins has been gulled, we'll sleep soundly.

Michael Collins (1996)
He tried to gull me into thinking he had inside information about the investment.
Only Merlin would seek to gull me so, even though he should know better.

Fiction book (2001)
"You have been gulled!" he said at last.

Fiction book (1993)
Lately, it has come to me that I'd been gulled more than I knew.

Fiction book (1995)
They were easily gulled in those days.

Fiction book (1996)
He wasn't going to be gulled into thinking that the pressure was off.

Fiction book (1995)
Perhaps the federal agency was gulled by the fulsome praise Starr's project received from the teaching profession and the mass media.

Academic text (1992)
I'd like to be in the room with him and the suckers he gulled into donating to his stupor-PAC.

Blog text (2)
Her sense of betrayal is doubled; she was "gulled" both by her family and by the Canadian government (Knutson 11).

Academic text (2013)

Synonyms

to fool

vsto gull

545 2.1

To trick someone into believing something that is not true

is similar but focuses on cheating rather than embarrassment

to trick

vsto gull

289 3.5

To make someone believe something false so you can get what you want

is the broad term stressing cheating or tricking someone

to put on

vsto gull

Informal

65 7.2

To trick someone, often as a joke

is the neutral cheating sense, not limited to jokes

to dupe

vsto gull

57 6.4

To trick someone into believing something false

is the general act of deceiving, not only for personal profit

to bamboozle

vsto gull

Informal

12 8.3

To trick someone by pretending you want to help them

is broader and can be simple tricking, not only elaborate plots

to take in

vsto gull

Informal

10 4.3

Make someone believe something that is not true

is the general deception verb applying to many situations

to play (someone) for a fool

vsto gull

Offensive

8 7.4

Treat someone as stupid to trick or cheat them

is the general act of deceiving without focusing on naivety

to put one over

vsto gull

Informal

4 7.8

To make someone believe something that is not true

is the plain act of cheating without highlighting success or flair

to decoy

vsto gull

3 6.1

To trick someone into a trap or danger

is broader, covering many forms of deception beyond luring

to hornswoggle

vsto gull

Archaic

1 9.9

To trick someone to take their money or things

is the common word for deceiving without the playful tone

to con someone

vsto gull

Slang

1 7.7

To trick someone to get their money

is the basic act of cheating without stressing personal gain

to befool

vsto gull

1 9.9

To trick someone so they look silly

is the neutral act of cheating without stressing ridicule

to cod

vsto gull

1 8.8

To trick someone as a joke

is the general deception act beyond mere joking

to put one across

vsto gull

9.0

Make someone believe something false to trick them

is used for general deception, not necessarily persuasive tactics

Antonyms

to reveal

∞ 2.3

Show something that was hidden or secret

to enlighten

50 4.8

To give someone clear information to help them understand something

Idioms

as the gull flies

1 8.9

In a straight line between two places, not along roads

Compounds

sea gull

4 1.0

A mostly white bird with long wings that lives near the sea or lakes

herring gull

1 5.4

A large gray and white bird that lives near coasts and makes loud calls

laughing gull

1 6.4

A medium-sized sea bird with a black head in summer that makes a loud call like a laugh

ivory gull

1 9.9

A white sea bird that lives in the Arctic and sometimes moves south to places like England or New Brunswick

black-backed gull

1 7.5

A large white sea bird with a black back and wings that lives by the coast

great black-backed gull

1 8.1

A large white sea bird with black back and wings found on North Atlantic coasts

mew gull

1 9.6

A medium-sized seabird with a grey back and white belly found in Europe, Asia, and northeastern North America

pewit gull

9.9

A small sea bird found in Europe with a black head during breeding season

How Deceptive

to swindle

25 5.5

to dupe

57 6.4

to gull

2 8.9

to trick

289 3.5

to mislead

152 3.9

Surface Forms

gull infinitive

gulled past

gulled past participle

gulling present participle

gulls third person singular

Etymology

The verb gull (to trick) comes from the same idea as the noun: to make someone into an 'easy target' like a gull; so to gull someone is to cheat or fool them, the same root you see in gullible.