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Webster 1913 Edition


Gulf

Gulf

(gŭlf)
,
Noun.
[F.
golfe
, It.
golfo
, fr. Gr.
κόλποσ
bosom, bay, gulf, LGr.
κόλφος
.]
1.
A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin,
He then surveyed
Hell and the
gulf
between.
Milton.
Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed.
Luke xvi. 26.
2.
That which swallows; the gullet.
[Obs.]
Shak.
3.
That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking eddy.
Shak.
A
gulf
of ruin, swallowing gold.
Tennyson.
4.
(Geog.)
A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially land-locked sea;
as, the
Gulf
of Mexico
.
5.
(Mining)
A large deposit of ore in a lode.
Gulf Stream
(Geog.)
,
the warm ocean current of the North Atlantic.
It originates in the westward equatorial current, due to the trade winds, is deflected northward by Cape St. Roque through the Gulf of Mexico, and flows parallel to the coast of North America, turning eastward off the island of Nantucket. Its average rate of flow is said to be about two miles an hour. The similar Japan current, or Kuro-Siwo, is sometimes called the Gulf Stream of the Pacific.
Gulf weed
(Bot.)
,
a branching seaweed (
Sargassum bacciferum
, or sea grape), having numerous berrylike air vessels, – found in the Gulf Stream, in the Sargasso Sea, and elsewhere.

Webster 1828 Edition


Gulf

GULF

, n.
1.
A recess in the ocean from the general line of the shore into the land, or a tract of water extending from the ocean or a sea into the land, between two points or promontories; a large bay; as the gulf of Mexico; the gulf of Venice; the gulf of Finland. A gulf and a bay differ only in extent. We apply bay to a large or small recess of the sea, as the bay of Biscay, the bay of Fundy; but gulf is applied only to a large extent of water.
2.
An abyss; a deep place in the earth; as the gulf of Avernus.
3.
A whirlpool; an absorbing eddy.
4.
Any thing insatiable.

Definition 2024


gulf

gulf

English

Alternative forms

Noun

gulf (plural gulfs)

  1. A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin.
    • Milton
      He then surveyed / **** and the gulf between.
    • Bible, Luke xvi. 26
      Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed.
  2. (obsolete) That which swallows; the gullet.
  3. That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking eddy.
    • Tennyson
      a gulf of ruin, swallowing gold
  4. (geography) A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially landlocked sea
    the Gulf of Mexico
    the Persian Gulf
  5. (mining) A large deposit of ore in a lode.
  6. 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.

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