Gulf definition | Dictionary.com

gulf

[guhlf]

–noun

1.	a portion of an ocean or sea partly enclosed by land.

2.	a deep hollow; chasm or abyss.

3.	any wide separation, as in position, status, or education.

4.	something that engulfs or swallows up.

–verb (used with object)

5.	to swallow up; engulf.

Origin:
1300–50; ME go(u)lf < OF golfe < It golfo < LGk kólphos, Gk kólpos bosom, lap, bay

Related forms:

gulflike, adjective

gulfy, adjective

Synonyms:
2. canyon, gorge, gully, cleft, rift, split.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Gulf

gulf (gŭlf)

Abbr. G. A large area of a sea or ocean partially enclosed by land, especially a long landlocked portion of sea opening through a strait.
A deep, wide chasm; an abyss.
A wide gap, as in understanding: "the gulf between the Victorian sensibility and our own" (Babette Deutsch).
Something, such as a whirlpool, that draws down or engulfs.

tr.v. gulfed, gulf·ing, gulfs
To engulf.

[Middle English goulf, from Old French golfe, from Old Italian golfo, from Late Latin colpus, colfus, from Greek kolpos, bosom, gulf.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Gulf

Gulf\, n. [F. golfe, It. golfo, fr. Gr. ? bosom, bay, gulf, LGr. ?.]

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.

Note: 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's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Gulf

Spanish: golfo,

German: der Golf,

Japanese: 湾

More Translations »

gulf

c.1300, from O.Fr. golfe "a gulf, whirlpool," from It. golfo "a gulf, a bay," from L.L. colfos, from Gk. kolpos "bay, gulf," earlier "trough between waves, fold of a garment," originally "bosom," the common notion being "curved shape," from PIE *qwelp- "to vault" (cf. O.E. hwealf, a-hwielfan "to overwhelm"). Latin sinus underwent the same development, being used first for "bosom," later for "gulf." Replaced O.E. sæ-earm. Figurative sense of "a wide interval" is from 1557. The Gulf Stream (1775) takes its name from the Gulf of Mexico.

gulf (gŭlf) Pronunciation Key
A large body of ocean or sea water that is partly surrounded by land.

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