- [countable]
a large area of sea that is partly surrounded by land 海湾 the Gulf of Mexico 墨西哥湾
- the Gulf[singular]
the Persian Gulf, the area of sea between the Arabian peninsula and Iran 波斯湾 - [countable, usually singular] gulf (between A and B)
a large difference between two people or groups in the way that they think, live or feel 分歧；鸿沟；隔阂 The gulf between rich and poor is enormous. 贫富悬殊。 It felt as if a gulf had opened up between his life and mine. 我感觉他的生活似乎和我的有了隔阂。
Extra ExamplesA gulf of mistrust still exists between them. 他们之间依然存在着极大的不信任。 For many teachers, there existed an unbridgeable gulf between home and school life. 对许多教师来说，家庭生活和学校生活之间存在不可逾越的鸿沟。 Other factors widened the gulf that separated rich from poor. 其他因素加大了贫富差距。 The documentary illustrated the gulf between industrialized and developing countries. 这部纪录片展示了工业化国家和发展中国家之间的差距。 There appeared to be a growing gulf between the prosperous south and the declining towns of the north. 繁荣的南方和衰退的北方城市之间的差距似乎在不断扩大。 This atrocity has created a huge gulf between the two groups. 这一暴行在两个群体之间造成了巨大的隔阂。 the huge gulf in level between professional and amateur teams 职业队和业余队之间巨大的水平差距 the ideological gulf that separated the two branches of the movement 致使运动两个分支分裂的意识形态鸿沟 the yawning gulf that separates the two cultures 将两种文化分隔开的鸿沟
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- deep
- enormous
- …
- create
- widen
- emphasize
- …
- exist
- divide somebody/something
- separate somebody/something
- …
- gulf between
- gulf in
- gulf of
- …
- [countable]
a wide deep opening in the ground （地面的）裂口，深坑，沟壑
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French golfe, from Italian golfo, based on Greek kolpos ‘bosom, gulf’.
Idioms
bridge the gap/gulf/divide (between A and B)
to reduce or get rid of the differences that exist between two things or groups of people 消除（甲、乙间的）隔阂／鸿沟／分歧 The new degree course aims to bridge the gulf between education and industry. 新的学位课程旨在弥合教育和实业之间的脱节。