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Gulf

 - 4 dictionary results

gulf

  [guhlf]
Use Gulf in a Sentence
–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.
Cite This Source Link To Gulf
gulf   (gŭlf)   
n.  

  1. 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.

  2. A deep, wide chasm; an abyss.

  3. A wide gap, as in understanding: "the gulf between the Victorian sensibility and our own" (Babette Deutsch).

  4. 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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Slang Dictionary
gulf

  1. n.
    heroin from the Persian Gulf region. (Drugs.) : Those pushers can call anything gulf. How does anybody know where it's from?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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