# gulf

Pronunciation: say "GULF" /ɡʌlf/

## Noun

1. A part of an ocean or sea that extends into the land and is partly enclosed by it.
   - Simple: A part of the sea that reaches into the land, with land on several sides of it.
   - _The storm gathered strength as it crossed the warm waters of the gulf._
   - _Fishing boats work the cold waters of the Gulf of Alaska every summer._
2. A difference between groups, especially a large one.
   - Simple: A difference between groups, often a big one.
   - _Ten years of rising rents have widened the gulf between homeowners and renters._
   - _Negotiators talked through the night but could not bridge the gulf between the union and management._
3. A wide gap or interval that separates one thing from another.
   - Simple: A wide space or gap that keeps two things apart.
   - _Across a gulf of three centuries, her letters still speak directly to modern readers._
   - _A gulf of silence opened between the two brothers and lasted for years._
4. A deep hollow in the earth, such as a chasm or a sunken basin.
   - Simple: A very deep hole or opening in the ground.
   - _The rope bridge swayed over a gulf so deep that its floor was lost in shadow._
   - _Loose stones broke from the cliff edge and clattered down into the gulf below._
5. Something that swallows what it takes beyond any hope of recovery, such as a whirlpool or a sucking eddy.
   - Simple: Something that swallows things and never gives them back, like water that spins and pulls things down.
   - _Sailors gave the gulf a wide berth, knowing its spinning current could drag a small boat under._
   - _The failing restaurant became a gulf that swallowed every dollar her parents put into it._
7. A large body of ore lying within a lode.
   - Simple: A large amount of metal-rich rock found in one part of a vein in a mine.
   - _Halfway along the lode, the crew broke into a gulf of silver ore far richer than anything above it._
   - _Assays from the new gulf persuaded the owners to sink a second shaft._
8. The bottom section of a list of students awarded a degree, made up of those who only just passed.
   - Simple: The bottom of the list of students who get a degree, for those who only just passed.
   - _The class list went up on Friday, and three of our friends found their names in the gulf._
   - _After a year spent on the river instead of in the library, he was lucky to land in the gulf._

## Verb

6. To swallow up or close over something completely; to engulf.
   - Simple: To cover something or swallow it up completely.
9. To award a degree to a student whose results were only just good enough to pass.
   - Simple: To give a degree to a student who only just passed.
   - _The examiners threatened to gulf anyone who scraped through the final paper._
   - _He spent his last year rowing instead of studying and was gulfed that summer._

## Noun

10. Anything that swallows; in particular, the gullet, the passage that carries food from the throat to the stomach. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: The tube that food goes down when you swallow, or anything else that swallows.
   - _The heron tipped back its head, and the fish slid whole down its gulf._
   - _He tilted the bottle and poured the ale straight down his gulf without a pause._

## Origin

From Middle English gulf (also goulf, golf), from Old French golf, from Italian golfo, from Late Latin colfos, from Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos, "bosom, gulf"). The Greek word is of obscure origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp- ("to curve, arch").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/gulf (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).