from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Gulf \Gulf\ (g[u^]lf), n. [F. golfe, It. golfo, fr. Gr. ko`lpos
bosom, bay, gulf, LGr. ko`lfos.]
1. A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or
basin,
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He then surveyed
Hell and the gulf between. --Milton.
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Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed.
--Luke xvi.
26.
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2. That which swallows; the gullet. [Obs.] --Shak.
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3. That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking
eddy. --Shak.
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A gulf of ruin, swallowing gold. --Tennyson.
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4. (Geog.) A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the
land; a partially land-locked sea; as, the Gulf of Mexico.
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5. (Mining) A large deposit of ore in a lode.
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{Gulf Stream} (Geog.), the warm ocean current of the North
Atlantic.
Note: It originates in the westward equatorial current, due
to the trade winds, is deflected northward by Cape St.
Roque through the Gulf of Mexico, and flows parallel to
the coast of North America, turning eastward off the
island of Nantucket. Its average rate of flow is said
to be about two miles an hour. The similar Japan
current, or Kuro-Siwo, is sometimes called the Gulf
Stream of the Pacific.
{Gulf weed} (Bot.), a branching seaweed ({Sargassum
bacciferum}, or sea grape), having numerous berrylike air
vessels, -- found in the Gulf Stream, in the Sargasso Sea,
and elsewhere.
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