Home › Glossary › Letter S

Seagull

Birds
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A colloquial term for gulls, especially those frequenting coasts and harbors.

Detailed Definition
Seagulls symbolize freedom, adaptability, and the liminal space between land and sea in poetry. Their cries over beaches and piers evoke nostalgia, loneliness, or the eternal presence of the ocean. Often portrayed as both scavengers and majestic soarers, they embody contradiction. Poets use seagulls to explore themes of transience, urban-wild interfaces, and the haunting echoes of memory carried on salt air and wind.
Example
Example in poetry:
In maritime poetry, the seagull’s cry over harbors and beaches symbolizes freedom, nostalgia, and the eternal presence of the sea; Poets use seagulls to explore the liminal space between land and ocean, civilization and wilderness; In urban verse, seagulls scavenging city streets represent adaptability and the blurring of natural/artificial boundaries; The seagull’s white wings against storm clouds evoke hope or divine presence in romantic and spiritual poetry; Ecopoets critique seagull population booms tied to human waste, exploring unintended ecological consequences; The seagull’s soaring flight inspires metaphors for detachment, perspective, and the soul’s longing for transcendence.
Additional Notes
Seagull: Often used interchangeably with “gull,” but “seagull” is not a scientific term—most gulls are coastal but not exclusively marine. In poetry, it evokes the sea, freedom, or urban adaptability. Be precise: specify species or context to avoid vagueness; consider the gull’s dual role as both majestic and scavenger.
Also Known As
Sea Gull Gull Herring Gull Common Gull
Skip to main content