Meaning & use
gal
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Meanings
nouncountableinformal
A girl or woman, used in a friendly, casual way.
Grammar: Spoken and relaxed: my gal, the gals from work. It can sound dated or patronizing from some speakers.
Patterns
- a gal from somewhere
- one of the gals
She's a tough gal who never gives up.
My grandmother always called her friends the gals.
The gals from the office are going out for dinner on Friday.
nouncountableinformalold-fashioned
A woman someone is dating or a girlfriend.
Grammar: Usually appears with a possessive word: his gal.
Patterns
- someone's gal
He took his gal to the dance in his father's car.
In the old film, the hero rescues his gal from the train tracks.
nouncountabletechnical
A unit of acceleration used in geophysics, equal to one centimeter per second squared.
Grammar: A technical symbol, written Gal in science; it is rarely met outside geophysics.
The sensor recorded a ground acceleration of 80 gal during the earthquake.
Geologists measure small changes in gravity in milligals.
Word forms
| plural | gals |
|---|
Common combinations
- a good gal
- She is a good gal, and everybody trusts her.
- gal pals
- The gal pals met for coffee every Sunday.
- a city gal
- She is a city gal who had never milked a cow.
- hey gals
- Hey gals, who wants to go to the movies?
- my gal
- My gal makes the best pancakes in town.
Synonyms and how they differ
- girl
- This is the neutral word and works in any situation, while gal is more casual and a bit old-fashioned.
- lass
- This is a regional word, common in Scotland and northern England, with a warm, friendly tone.
- woman
- This is neutral and respectful for adults, whereas gal is relaxed and can seem patronizing.
- lady
- This is more polite or formal, while gal is casual.
Opposites
Word family
- gal pal noun
- a female friend, in informal speech
- galpal noun
- an informal variant of gal pal
Commonly confused: gal or gall? gal or gallon?
gal vs gall
Gall means rude boldness, as in the gall to ask, and it is not related to the word for a girl.
gal vs gallon
A gallon is a unit of liquid volume, and gal is sometimes its written abbreviation, so context decides the meaning.
Practice
Which sentence uses the informal word gal in a natural, friendly way?
Choose one answer.
Gal is casual and friendly, so it suits talk about a neighbor. It sounds out of place in formal or professional contexts like the other options.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gal”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.