gulch

[guhlch]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gulch ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a deep, narrow ravine, especially one marking the course of a stream or torrent.

Nearby words

Origin of gulch

1825–35; compare British dialect gulch, gulsh to run with a full stream, gush, (of land) to sink in, Middle English gulchen to spew forth, gush; expressive word akin to gulp, gush, etc.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gulch

But there turned out to be, if not a cliff, at least a gulch still embedded in the deal.
Cut the Payroll Tax, Help Working Class Americans|Justin Green|February 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I don't mean to imply that doctors are all going to move to Galt's Gulch.
The Future of the MD|Megan McArdle|January 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
"Why do you think of a gulch when—" She stopped with a sudden recollection that he was not used to persiflage.
A Mountain Woman and Others|(AKA Elia Wilkinson) Elia W. Peattie
Coming to the gulch's head, to be sure, they found vacant ground, but refused to claim such unpromising territory.
The Crimson Gardenia and Other Tales of Adventure|Rex Beach

He shook his head and threw the weapon down the gulch, where it clattered on the rocks.
Bruce of the Circle A|Harold Titus
The site is divided by a gulch on the upstream side of which, it was said, there had once been houses.
California Athabascan Groups|Martin A. Baumhoff
"I'll do that," he said, and, picking up the emptied utensils he had brought he started off down and across the gulch.
Rimrock Trail|J. Allan Dunn

British Dictionary definitions for gulch

gulch

noun

US and Canadian a narrow ravine cut by a fast stream

Word Origin for gulch

C19: of obscure origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gulch

gulch

"deep ravine," 1832, American English, perhaps from obsolete or dialectal verb gulsh "sink in" (of land), "gush out" (of water), from Middle English gulchen "to gush forth; to drink greedily" (c.1200). Cf. gulche-cuppe "a greedy drinker" (mid-13c.).