Gulf Meaning
/ɡʌlf/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin.
nounThat which swallows; the gullet.
Sentence Examples
The Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
The ship is bound for the Gulf of Mexico.
The quarrel left a gulf between the two families.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ship sailed into the wide ____ between the two peninsulas.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The massive oil spill in the ____ had a devastating effect on the local marine life and the coastal economy.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English gulf, goulf, golf, from Old French golf, from Italian golfo, from Late Latin colfos, from Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos, “bosom, gulf”), of obscure origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp- (“to curve, arch”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"He then surveyed / Hell and the gulf between."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"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."
— 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
"For though my nature rarely yields
To that vague fear implied in death;
Nor shudders at the gulfs beneath,
The howlings from forgotten fields; […]"
— 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XL”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 62:
"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."
— 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 55:
"Witch's mummy, maw and gulf / Of the ravined salt sea shark,"
— 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, [Act IV, scene i], line 23:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ship sailed into the wide ____ between the two peninsulas.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The massive oil spill in the ____ had a devastating effect on the local marine life and the coastal economy.