gulf Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an arm of a sea or ocean partly enclosed by land; larger than a bay
  2. noun an unbridgeable disparity (as from a failure of understanding)
    disconnection; disconnect.
    • he felt a gulf between himself and his former friends
    • there is a vast disconnect between public opinion and federal policy
  3. noun a deep wide chasm

WordNet

Gulf noun
Etymology
F. golfe, It. golfo, fr. Gr. bosom, bay, gulf, LGr. .
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913