Gallant — A Vocabulary Story
The wind off Skellig Bay
The wind off Skellig Bay had teeth that morning, and Carlos gripped the rail of the small ferry with both hands. Beside him stood Nur, the lighthouse keeper's daughter, completely unbothered by the spray.
"My father says only the gallant sailors come this far in October," she said, grinning. "He's quite gallant himself, you know. Twenty winters out here and he hasn't missed a lamp once."
Gallant means brave and heroic in the face of danger. It also means attentive and courteous towards others.
Carlos tried to look gallant too, though his stomach was performing somersaults. He had come from Nottingham to interview Nur's father for a school project on coastal communities. Although he felt seasick, he refused to let Nur see how unwell he was.
When they docked, a black-and-white collie tore down the jetty.
"That's Ranger," Nur laughed. "The most gallant dog in Ireland. He pulled a fisherman out of the surf last winter."
Inside the keeper's cottage, a peat fire crackled. Mr Walsh poured tea into chipped mugs and listened patiently as Carlos stumbled through his questions, scribbling notes with frozen fingers.
"You made a gallant effort getting here," Mr Walsh said kindly. "Most people your age would've turned back at the harbour."
Carlos felt his ears go pink. On the ferry home, with Ranger's muddy paw prints still on his coat, he watched the lighthouse beam swing across the darkening water, gallant and steady.
Word Definition
gallant
meaning
brave and heroic in the face of danger; attentive and courteous towards others
synonyms
brave · courageous · valiant · heroic · quixotic
antonyms
cowardly · ungallant · timid
example sentence
The gallant soldier risked his life to save his wounded comrade on the battlefield.