gulf
English
Alternative forms
- gulph (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English gulf, goulf, golf, from Old French golf, from Italian golfo, from Late Latin colfos, from Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos, “bosom, gulf”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: gŭlf, IPA(key): /ɡʌlf/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ʌlf
- Homophone: golf (some speakers)
Noun
gulf (plural gulfs)
- A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- He then surveyed / Hell and the gulf between.
- 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:
- Of course, there was no arguing against this, but one thing was clear, we could not attempt that leap in the dark; the only thing to do was to wait for the ray of light which pierced through the gulf at sunset.
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- (obsolete) That which swallows; the gullet.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i], line 23:
- Witch's mummy, maw and gulf / Of the ravined salt sea shark,
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- That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking eddy.
- 1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Sea Dreams”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], OCLC 879237670, page 100:
- [T]here is no such mine, / None; but a gulf of ruin, swallowing gold, not making.
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- (geography) A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially landlocked sea
- the Gulf of Mexico the Persian Gulf
- (mining) A large deposit of ore in a lode.
- (figurative) A wide interval or gap; a separating space.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Luke 16:26:
- Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed.
- 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, OCLC 1167497017:
- `Behold now, let the Dead and Living meet! Across the gulf of Time they still are one.'
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- (figurative) A difference, especially a large difference, between groups.
- 2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:
- England were graphically illustrating the huge gulf in class between the sides and it was no surprise when Lampard added the second just before the half hour. Steven Gerrard found his Liverpool team-mate Glen Johnson and Lampard arrived in the area with perfect timing to glide a header beyond Namasco.
- 2018 May 17, “Corbynomics would change Britain—but not in the way most people think”, in The Economist:
- Piecing together Corbynomics is difficult, not least because it has evolved during Mr Corbyn’s time in charge of Labour. The gulf between the Labour leadership’s past positions and the milder proposals in the manifesto means that enormous uncertainty hangs over what a Corbyn-led government would do in office.
- 2022 November 4, Fiona Harvey, “UN chief warns ‘we will be doomed’ without historic climate pact”, in The Guardian:
- Rich countries must sign a “historic pact” with the poor on the climate, or “we will be doomed”, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has warned, as a deepening gulf between the developed and developing world has put climate talks on the brink.
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- (Oxbridge slang) The bottom part of a list of those awarded a degree, for those who have only just passed.
- 1852, Charles Astor Bristed, Five Years in an English University, page 205:
- Some ten or fifteen men just on the line, not enough to be plucked or good enough to be placed, are put into the "gulf," as it is popularly called (the Examiners' phrase is "Degrees allowed"), and have their degrees given to them but are not printed in the calendar, nor were they at this time allowed to try for the Classical Tripos.
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Synonyms
- (difference): abyss, rift
Derived terms
- engulf
- Gulf Coast
- Gulf County
- Gulf of Mexico
- Gulfport
- Gulf Stream
- Gulf War
- gulfweed (Sargassum)
- gulfy
- Persian Gulf
Translations
geography
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abyss, chasm
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large difference between groups
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Verb
gulf (third-person singular simple present gulfs, present participle gulfing, simple past and past participle gulfed)
- (Oxbridge slang, transitive) To award a degree to somebody who has only just passed sufficiently.
- 1852, Bristed, Charles Astor, Five Years in an English University, page 228–229:
- The mention of gulfed and plucked men brings me back to myself.
- 1863, Kingsley, Henry, Austin Elliot, page 123:
- The good Professor scolded, predicted that they would all be either gulfed or ploughed.
- 1876, Trevelyan, Sir George Otto, The life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, volume 1, page 83:
- Everyone who knows the Senate House may anticipate the result. When the Tripos of 1822 made its appearance his name did not grace the list. In short, to use the expressive vocabulary of the university, Macaulay was gulfed:—a mishap which disabled him from contending for the Chancellor's medals, then the crowning trophies of a classical career.
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