Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To move or run clumsily or heavily.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive To move heavily and clumsily.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb move around heavily and clumsily

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Coined by Lewis Carroll in his poem “Jabberwocky” in Through the Looking-Glass, perhaps as a blend of gallop and triumph.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Back-formation from galumphing in Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, where the meaning was different.

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Examples

Comments

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  • describes the mode of locomotion used by true seals (phocids).

    December 8, 2006

  • Also by a dog of my acquaintance.

    February 13, 2007

  • unit of wasted motion.

    February 23, 2008

  • Except when galumphing for fun or profit.

    February 23, 2008

  • Oddly, Lewis Carroll originally coined this to mean "prance in triumph" (possibly a combination of "gallop" and "triumph").

    And I think you really have to be wearing heavy boots (or have big paws) to do it.

    February 24, 2008

  • "Lizards patrol the . . . landscape, and giant tortoises galumph on the beaches."

    - Peter M. Nichols, 'Galápagos', New York Times, 30 March 2001.

    October 23, 2009