Link Centre Dictionary

lull

UK/lʌl/ US/lʊl/ uncommon
noun (2) verb (3)

noun

1.

a pause during which things are calm or activities are diminished

  • “there was never a letup in the noise”
Synonyms
2.

a period of calm weather

  • “there was a lull in the storm”
Synonyms

verb

1.

calm by deception

  • “Don”
2.

become quiet or less intensive

  • “the fighting lulled for a moment”
Synonyms
3.

make calm or still

  • “quiet the dragons of worry and fear”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

From Middle English lullen, lollen. Originally, perhaps expressive in origin from la-la-la or lu-lu-lu sounds made in calming a child. Compare Finnish laulaa (“to sing”) and Hiligaynon lala (“to sing a lullaby”). Cognate with Scots lul, lule, loll (“to lull, put to sleep, howl, caterwaul”), Dutch lollen (“to sing badly, caterwaul”), Dutch lullen (“to chatter, prate, cheat, deceive”), Low German lullen (“to lull”), German lullen (“to lull”), Danish lulle (“to lull, sing to sleep”), Swedish lulla (“to lull”), Icelandic lúlla (“to lull”).

Phrases

  • lull before the storm

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.