MEANING
1. A large part of a sea or ocean extending into land, usually partly enclosed by coast.
2. A large difference that separates people, ideas, conditions, or levels of understanding.
3. A deep, wide opening or empty space, especially one that seems dangerous or overwhelming.
Use it for
naming a large coastal indentation; describing water reaching inland between coasts; distinguishing a major sea inlet from a small coveNames a large coastal indentation and distinguishes physical breadth from social or conceptual separation. Writing functions: Coastal geography / Separation.
Words that belong together
- a sheltered gulf
- across the gulf
- the shores of a gulf
On the page
The fishing towns faced one another across the gulf.
A chain of islands guarded the entrance to the gulf.
The voyage exposed the gulf between the officers and the crew.
No apology could bridge the gulf between their accounts.
Beyond the ledge opened a gulf without visible bottom.
Word forms
- Base
- gulf
Usage notes
Countable noun: gulf, gulfs. The deep-hole meaning is literary; the figurative gap often takes between. Register: neutral. Commonness: common (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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