gulf

noun

1. A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin.

   “He then surveyed / Hell and the gulf between.”

   “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.”

   “⁠For though my nature rarely yields ⁠To that vague fear implied in death; ⁠Nor shudders at the gulfs beneath, The howlings from forgotten fields; […]”

   “It is told that that traveller came at last to the utter End and there was a mighty gulf, and in the darkness at the bottom of the gulf one small god crept, no bigger than a hare, whose voice came crying in the cold: “I know not.” And beyond the gulf was nought, only the small god crying.”

2. (obsolete)That which swallows; the gullet.

   “Witch's mummy, maw and gulf / Of the ravined salt sea shark,”

3. That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking eddy.

   “[T]here is no such mine, / None; but a gulf of ruin, swallowing gold, not making.”

4. A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially landlocked sea

   “the Gulf of Mexico”

   “the Persian Gulf”

5. A large deposit of ore in a lode.
6. (figuratively)A wide interval or gap; a separating space.

   “Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed.”

   “`Behold now, let the Dead and Living meet! Across the gulf of Time they still are one.'”

7. (figuratively)A difference, especially a large difference, between groups.

   “Only the gulf between them was widened still further by the Negro cops in the precinct, bad-mouthing among themselves about their fellow white cops unnecessarily throwing their authority around and singling out Sullivan as a prime example.”

   “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.”

   “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.”

   “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.”

   “The result is a widening gulf between people’s reality and what they are relentlessly told they actually believe in and care about.”

8. The bottom part of a list of those awarded a degree, for those who have only just passed.

   “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.”

verb

1. (transitive)To engulf.

   “[…] if with thee the roaring wells ⁠Should gulf him fathom-deep in brine; ⁠And hands so often clasp’d in mine, Should toss with tangle and with shells.”

2. (transitive)To award a degree to somebody who has only just passed sufficiently.

   “The mention of gulfed and plucked men brings me back to myself.”

   “The good Professor scolded, predicted that they would all be either gulfed or ploughed.”

   “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.”

name

1. The Persian Gulf, or the region surrounding it.

   “Gulf States”

   “Gulf War”

   “Behind this carefully crafted strategy of wooing Trump is a desire from Gulf states to solidify and formalize their positions as the US’ indispensable security and economic partners, and extract as much benefit for themselves as they can.”

2. The Gulf of Mexico, or the region surrounding it.

   “Gulf States”

   “Gulf Stream”

3. An epoch constituting a subdivision of the Cretaceous.