gulf

noun8

1. •
   A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially landlocked sea
2. •
   (figurative) A wide interval or gap; a separating space.

   • Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed. — 1611
3. •
   (figurative) A difference, especially a large difference, between groups.

   • The result is a widening gulf between people’s reality and what they are relentlessly told they actually believe in and care about. — 2023
4. •
   A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin.

   • He then surveyed / Hell and the gulf between. — 1667
5. •
   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
6. •
   A large deposit of ore in a lode.
7. •
   The bottom part of a list of those awarded a degree, for those who have only just passed.
8. •
   (no longer used) That which swallows; the gullet.

   • Witch's mummy, maw and gulf / Of the ravined salt sea shark, — 1606

verb2

1. •
   To engulf.

   • […] if with thee the roaring wells ⁠Should gulf him fathom-deep in brine; ⁠And hands so often clasp’d in mine, Should toss with tangle and with shells. — 1850
2. •
   To award a degree to somebody who has only just passed sufficiently.

   • The mention of gulfed and plucked men brings me back to myself. — 1852

noun1

1. •
   The Persian Gulf, or the region surrounding it.

   • Gulf States