1
as in bay
a part of a body of water that extends beyond the general shoreline
we dipped our feet in the warm waters of the gulf
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2
as in abyss
an immeasurable depth or space
the gulf of understanding between the two men was too wide for them to ever get along
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3
as in canyon
a narrow opening between hillsides or mountains that can be used for passage
the gulf was too wide to cross, so we had to hike down into it and go through it
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4
as in gap
an open space in a barrier (as a wall or hedge)
a wide gulf in the defensive wall meant the city was in grave danger
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5
as in vortex
water moving rapidly in a circle with a hollow in the center
the doomed ship was sucked into the gulf and consigned to Davy Jones's locker
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as in to flood
to cover with a flood
with the administration gulfed by so many real problems, it's absurd for the president to concern himself with this nonissue
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of gulf
Manuel Veth, Forbes.com, 15 June 2025
These efforts helped narrow the gulf between the performance of U.S. and Chinese AI tools on most popular benchmarks to single-digit percentages by the end of 2024.
—Sebastian Elbaum, Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2025
Ferris Jabr, Smithsonian, 8 Jan. 2018
Read More: Gulf Spat Escalates as Saudi Arabia, U.A.E. Media Attack Qatar
Institutional and individual investors from the GCC sold 34.6 million riyals ($9.5 million) of Qatari stocks on Monday, the most in a single trading session since March 21.
—Glen Carey, Bloomberg.com, 30 May 2017
See All Example Sentences for gulf
Noun
After all, the two teams have the largest gulf in terms of Transfermarkt squad value among all teams at the tournament.
—Manuel Veth, Forbes.com, 15 June 2025
These efforts helped narrow the gulf between the performance of U.S. and Chinese AI tools on most popular benchmarks to single-digit percentages by the end of 2024.
—Sebastian Elbaum, Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2025
Verb
So many gulfs separate us now: geographical, anatomical, psychological.
—Ferris Jabr, Smithsonian, 8 Jan. 2018
Read More: Gulf Spat Escalates as Saudi Arabia, U.A.E. Media Attack Qatar
Institutional and individual investors from the GCC sold 34.6 million riyals ($9.5 million) of Qatari stocks on Monday, the most in a single trading session since March 21.
—Glen Carey, Bloomberg.com, 30 May 2017
See All Example Sentences for gulf
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gulf
Noun
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As the volunteers were watching the whale, it was joined by a pod of dolphins in the bay, the organization said.—
Irene Wright,
Miami Herald,
25 June 2025
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The bay historically was not visited by this cetacean species.—
Susanne Rust,
Los Angeles Times,
25 June 2025
Noun
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All that being said, the grimmest predictions as to how Iran might react to the bombings from Israel and the U.S. — and how the region could spiral ever closer to the abyss — now look overblown.—
Niall Stanage,
The Hill,
23 June 2025
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Legislators can schedule a summer session or wait until the fall veto session to deal with the fiscal abyss.—
Charles Selle,
Chicago Tribune,
23 June 2025
Noun
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One of its most scenic routes cuts through a dramatic river canyon.—
Evie Carrick,
Travel + Leisure,
2 July 2025
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Unlike that other world-famous attraction, this majestic canyon system inside the Daniel Boone National Forest is just a two-hour drive from Louisville.—
Amanda Hancock,
The Courier-Journal,
2 July 2025
Noun
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The larger the gaps, the faster the sucker will lose its grip.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
28 June 2025
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The gap between the two has never been as narrow – at least where security is concerned.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
28 June 2025
Noun
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Highly nonlinear filaments, vortices and eddies start forming patterns and structured networks.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
26 June 2025
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The opposite of a heat dome is the polar vortex, when cold Arctic air plunges southward and stalls.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
19 June 2025
Verb
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But two of the endeavor’s most compelling aspects are difficult to convey in any individual image, no matter how spectacular: the sheer amount of data Rubin will produce and the speed with which those data will flood into astronomers’ work.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
1 July 2025
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Streets became rivers that coursed down Asheville’s sloped streets, taking down trees and flooding everything in their path.—
Sofia Perez,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
Noun
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So is avoiding areas like estuaries, which are natural fish nurseries, and any area that has a lot of fish or bird life or a lot of seals or sea lions.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
29 June 2025
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What was once a pristine estuary has become a hotspot for pollution, habitat loss, and stress.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
Noun
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He’s taught at FAU for about 20 years and goes out for regular jaunts in the ocean to tag sharks with transmitters so investigators can track their behavior.—
Lois K. Solomon,
Sun Sentinel,
5 July 2025
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Over 90 million Americans swim in pools, lakes and oceans every year, and one-third of that group swims regularly for fitness.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
4 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gulf.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gulf. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.
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