gulf

[guhlf]

noun

1. a portion of an ocean or sea partly enclosed by land.

2. a deep hollow; chasm or abyss.

   Synonyms: split, rift, cleft, gully, gorge, canyon

3. any wide separation, as in position, status, or education.

4. something that engulfs or swallows up.

verb (used with object)

1. to swallow up; engulf.

gulf

¹

/ ɡʌlf /

noun

1. a large deep bay

2. a deep chasm

3. something that divides or separates, such as a lack of understanding

4. something that engulfs, such as a whirlpool

verb

1. (tr) to swallow up; engulf

Gulf

²

/ ɡʌlf /

noun

1. the Persian Gulf

2. 1. the Gulf of Carpentaria

   2. (modifier) of, relating to, or adjoining the Gulf

      Gulf country

3. the Hauraki Gulf

gulf

1. A large body of ocean or sea water that is partly surrounded by land.

Other Word Forms

• gulflike adjective
• gulfy adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of gulf¹

1300–50; Middle English go ( u ) lf < Old French golfe < Italian golfo < Late Greek kólphos, Greek kólpos bosom, lap, bay

Word History and Origins

Origin of gulf¹

C14: from Old French golfe, from Italian golfo, from Greek kolpos

Example Sentences

The draft text offers a sweep of possible outcomes, reflecting the gulf between the nearly 200 nations at the summit in the Amazon, and the road still ahead to reach a final pact.

Read more on Barron's

Epstein replied: "There. Is a gulf air that leaves at 950 with a stop in Bahrain".

Read more on BBC

Chief among them is that there is far more AI computing infrastructure spending than there is AI revenue, a gulf that is widening by the day.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Worse, slanting political lines so that one party or the other is guaranteed victory only widens the gulf that has helped turn Washington’s into its current slough of dysfunction.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

After three years with the ascot aficionados, I realized that the cultural gulf between us wasn’t a cause of inequality; it was a symptom of it.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal