gulfs

Noun

gulf (plural gulfs)

1. A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin.
   • 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...
2. (obsolete) That which swallows; the gullet.
   • 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...
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.1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Sea Dreams”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 100
4. A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially landlocked sea
   • the Gulf of Mexico
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.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 16:26

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