to gulp down
- phrasal verb
- Informal
- Chuck breaks open another coconut and gulps down the milky liquid.
- gulped down his drink
- gulped down water
- gulped down his breakfast
I fill it with the bowl with milk and I just watch it sit there until it gets to the point where I can spoon it in and just gulp it down without chewing.
- I fill it with the bowl with milk and I just watch it sit there until it gets to the point where I can spoon it in and just gulp it down without chewing.
Examples
-
He was so hungry that he gulped down his lunch in mere minutes.
-
No one having invited him to drink, he gulped down a beer, belched loudly, and went out again.
Fiction book (1993) -
The girl jumped up, went to the bottle, and gulped down some more with her eyes closed.
Fiction book (1995) -
Jess takes the lid off her gift and gulps down the soda.
Fiction book (1998) -
And then, with a glass of merlot, gulped down all the pills at once.
-
When I wouldn't drink, she raised it to her own lips and gulped it down.
Fiction book (1996) -
Lloyd and Harry, who are both sweating profusely now, start to gulp down their water.
Fiction book (1994) -
Anya let me pour her half a tumbler of drink, which she gulped down at one go.
Fiction book (1994) -
Standing at the dining table, he gulped down two idlis and a tumbler of Horlicks.
Fiction book (2002) -
Lowering his face to the frothy nectar, he gulped down the thick juice in one long draft.
Fiction book (1999)
Synonyms
To put liquid into the mouth and swallow it
To drink something quickly in large gulps
Swallow a drink quickly, often because you feel nervous or thirsty
To drink an alcoholic drink quickly
Eat or drink something quickly and completely
To eat or drink something with a loud sucking noise
To eat something quickly and eagerly
To drink a lot very quickly
To eat food quickly and noisily without chewing properly
To drink or eat something very quickly, often without pausing
Eat food very quickly when you are very hungry
To eat a lot of food very quickly
To drink all of a glass or bottle quickly in one go
To empty a glass quickly in one long gulp
To drink coffee quickly in big gulps to wake up
To eat or drink very quickly, often without chewing
To drink a liquid quickly in big gulps, often alcohol
To drink a lot very quickly, often alcohol
To drink quickly, often alcohol
Antonyms
How Quickly
- Informal
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to eat or drink something quickly' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'gulp' (to swallow rapidly) with the particle 'down' (to consume/complete), following a standard English verb+particle composition. This composition is cross-linguistically common and contains no idiomatic shift, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should understand the MWE.
Etymology
Gulp down comes from a simple image: to gulp is to take a big, often noisy swallow, and down shows the food or drink moving quickly into your stomach. So, gulp down means to eat or drink something 'quickly' or 'without pausing'.