Jump To:

• 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.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to swallow up; engulf.

gulf ¹ 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

---

verb

1. (tr) to swallow up; engulf

Gulf ² 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

---

gulf Scientific  

/ gŭlf /

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

---

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 perception and reality then and now can’t be blamed on Mr. Netanyahu, nor TikTok or social media, which did not yet exist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

The hostility underscored a widening gulf between legacy networks and a growing ecosystem of independent digital outlets that many young Indians increasingly turn to for news.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

Jordan grapples with questions similar to those facing its gulf neighbors, all of which rely on the U.S. security umbrella that has exposed their nations to Iranian attack.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

It's also the gulf between what he has endured and those doing everything possible to avoid the same.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

The gulf between them was big enough for a whole religion to fit into.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri

The Emirates sits just across the Persian Gulf and has deep commercial, historical and cultural links with its larger neighbor, even though the two governments have frequently been at odds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

The Gulf is dotted with US military installations, including in the UAE, which said on Tuesday that Iran had fired two ballistic missiles at vessels off its coast.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

The skirmishes forced the U.S. and its regional allies to use more of their shrinking supply of defensive interceptors and carried high risks to Gulf energy infrastructure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

If the world warms by 3C, elderly people in the worst-affected regions -- south Asia and the Gulf -- could face dangerous heat day-and-night for three straight months a year, according to the study.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

The plane flew southeast over the Gulf of Tonkin, landing four hours later at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

All nine countries lining the two connected gulfs, including Iran under any management, will want passage restored.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 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

We are connected, but the fact that we’re so disconnected in so many different ways, just trying to remind each other that with all of those gulfs, there is a way back.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2022

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

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 1, 2022

She could feel the emptiness, the vast black gulfs of air that yawned around her.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin