gulf weed

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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