Meaning & use
gals
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“gals” is a form of “gal”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
nounpluralinformal
Girls or women, used in a casual, friendly way.
Grammar: Plural of gal: the gals are meeting tonight.
Patterns
- the gals
- you gals
The gals from the office are going out for lunch on Friday.
Come on, gals, the movie starts in ten minutes!
She spent the weekend with her college gals.
Word forms
| singular | gal |
|---|
Common combinations
- the gals
- The gals decided to book a trip together.
- my gals
- I am meeting my gals after work.
- old gals
- The old gals at the bridge club never miss a Tuesday.
- you gals
- Are you gals ready to go?
- gals night out
- They planned a gals night out at the new restaurant.
Synonyms and how they differ
- girls
- Girls is neutral and can refer to young females, while gals is more informal and often warm toward adult women.
- ladies
- Ladies is more polite and formal than gals.
- women
- Women is the neutral term and has no casual tone.
- girlfriends
- Girlfriends suggests close female friends, whereas gals only means females generally.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: gals or gal.?
gals vs gal.
With a full stop, gal. can be an abbreviation for gallon, which is a unit of volume unrelated to girls.
Practice
Which sentence uses gals in a natural, informal way?
Choose one answer.
Gals is casual and friendly, so it fits an invitation among friends. The other sentences need a formal tone that gals does not provide.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gals”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.