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
Boyce Upholt, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2025
The dust is moving through the gulf and will make landfall in Florida on Thursday.
—Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 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
Louisiana’s coastline is a river delta, formed by the Mississippi over millennia as its current slowed and relinquished its mud into a calm and sheltered gulf.
—Boyce Upholt, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 June 2025
The dust is moving through the gulf and will make landfall in Florida on Thursday.
—Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 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
-
Soak in mineral-rich hot springs while taking in views of the bay at Manyo Club.—
Kim Kay,
Travel + Leisure,
20 July 2025
-
The capsize reportedly happened near the Dau Go Cave – one of the largest in the bay.—
Eve Brennan,
CNN Money,
20 July 2025
Noun
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Longtime White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf fell into the same trap and his team is still trying to crawl out of the abyss.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
4 July 2025
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The continuity of memory did not measure the abyss between a toddler’s body and a woman’s.—
Rebecca Solnit
May 29,
Literary Hub,
29 May 2025
Noun
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On the peninsula itself, a narrow strip protruding southward with the canyon wall plunging around it, park crews had chipped some wood and burned some piles over the past decade.—
Brandon Loomis,
AZCentral.com,
29 July 2025
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Monterey Bay is a top spot for whale watching, thanks to a 6,000-foot-deep submarine canyon just offshore, which is comparable in size to the Grand Canyon.—
Brittany Anas,
Forbes.com,
28 July 2025
Noun
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Why The Northern Lights Are Being Seen In The U.S. The imminent potential display of aurora is due to a high-speed stream of solar wind coming from a coronal hole — a gap in the sun’s outer atmosphere, its corona, where solar wind escapes more freely into space.—
Jamie Carter,
Forbes.com,
22 July 2025
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But, as in James' case, such plans can have gaps in what care is covered, and more comprehensive private plans may be too expensive.—
Katheryn Houghton,
NPR,
22 July 2025
Noun
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According to the researchers, Mars' significant orbital eccentricity, or deviation from a perfect circle, causes the atmosphere in the southern summer to circulate more energetically, creating conditions ideal for vortex formation.—
Nola Taylor Tillman,
Space.com,
16 July 2025
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The vortex observed on July 12 was associated with the Deer Creek Fire burning in southeastern Utah.—
Marshall Shepherd,
Forbes.com,
14 July 2025
Verb
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Days after the Guadalupe River flooded and claimed dozens of lives, another major river in Texas has triggered warnings from the National Weather Service.—
Alexis Simmerman,
Austin American Statesman,
14 July 2025
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Thousands of comments flooded the platform owned by Trump.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
14 July 2025
Noun
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Flash rip currents are unpredictable, brief and affected by surf conditions, whereas a permanent rip is anchored to river estuaries or structures.—
Marshall Shepherd,
Forbes.com,
22 July 2025
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Powerful tidal currents in bays, estuary entrances, narrow straits, and inlets from the sea turn underwater turbines that are connected to a generator to produce electricity.—
Abhimanyu Ghoshal,
New Atlas,
2 July 2025
Noun
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One of my favorite examples of companies making a difference is Purcell, which makes bulk food dispensers to reduce plastic food waste in the oceans.—
Dave Evans,
Forbes.com,
29 July 2025
-
Dreyer and her boys could be seen swimming in the ocean and playing in the sand.—
Hannah Sacks,
People.com,
29 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gulf.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gulf. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
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