when a horse runs at its fastest speed with all four hooves leaving the ground, or to move very quickly.
From Old French 'galoper,' possibly from Frankish 'wala' (good) or from Old Norse. It entered English as the name for a horse's fastest gait. Metaphorically extended to mean any rapid movement.
There are four different horse gaits (walk, trot, canter, gallop), and only galloping means all four hooves are off the ground at once—that split-second moment of total suspension is why it feels so thrilling and is used to describe any headlong rush.
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