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• gulf
  gulf

  noun

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

  noun

  the Persian Gulf

gulf

American  

[guhlf] / gʌlf /

noun

• gulfs
  plural

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.

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verb (used with object)

1. to swallow up; engulf.

Gulf ¹ British  

/ 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

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gulf ² British  

/ 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

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verb

1. (tr) to swallow up; engulf

gulf Scientific  

/ gŭlf /

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• gulflike
  adjective
• gulfy
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• gulfs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of gulf

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

Explanation

Deep, wide and often filled with water, a gulf is any vast and seemingly unbridgeable area. You've probably heard of the Gulf of Mexico, that large body of water that's partly surrounded by land. But a gulf doesn't have to be all about the ocean. If two people have vastly different cultures or opinions, you could say that there's a gulf between them — a large divide that neither side is willing or able to cross.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gulf Gulf gulfs

The gulf between contribution rates of those paying loans and those without debt widened with age.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

Age gaps in digital literacy are a global concern, yet the gulf has widened massively in the hyper-connected and fast-ageing country, prompting national campaigns to bridge it.

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

But after Garcia exposed such a sizeable gulf, the road to becoming a world champion suddenly looks considerably longer than it did when he arrived in Las Vegas.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

So for all the tension between the film and its subject to come through in the press of late, the gulf between them is not so wide as one might suspect.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

The lizards had satisfied their curiosity, but there was still a big gulf in social status between them and a hawk.

From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness

The cost of hiring an oil supertanker to sail from the Persian Gulf to China topped $1.2 million a day in late September.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Carriers enter the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz, load at ports there, exit from the strait, then transfer the oil to another vessel waiting just outside of the waterway.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Ferrying oil directly from the Persian Gulf to global markets is also more expensive than ever, contributing to the appeal of shuttle runs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

In 1991, when the Pentagon repositioned its satellites over the Middle East for the Gulf War, GPS coverage over America shrank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

The military had been transformed, and with that, the Pentagon confidently turned its attention to the real Persian Gulf.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

The Strait of Hormuz has been a critical trading entrepôt for centuries, a passageway between the Persian and Oman gulfs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026

"It does give me confidence because I think the problem before was that I felt like I was gulfs away from the very top."

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2025

Soaring income inequality and a housing crisis have widened the gulfs between classes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2023

The other two spawn in the spring in either the central Baltic or its gulfs farther north.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 1, 2022

It came from the stars and the black velocities, and the shining movements, and the silent gulfs of space.

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury