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Gulf vs Barrier - What's the difference?

gulf | barrier |

As nouns the difference between gulf and barrier

is that gulf is a hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin while barrier is a structure that bars passage.

gulf

English

(wikipedia gulf)

Alternative forms

* gulph (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin.
  • * Milton
  • He then surveyed / Hell and the gulf between.
  • * Bible, Luke xvi. 26
  • Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed.
  • (obsolete) That which swallows; the gullet.
  • * 1606 , , IV. i. 23:
  • Witch's mummy, maw and gulf / Of the ravined salt sea shark,
  • That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking eddy.
  • * Tennyson
  • a gulf of ruin, swallowing gold
  • (geography) A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially landlocked sea; as, the Gulf of Mexico or Persian Gulf.
  • (mining) A large deposit of ore in a lode.
  • A difference, especially a large difference, between groups
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=September 7 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Moldova 0-5 England , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=England were graphically illustrating the huge gulf in class between the sides and it was no surprise when Lampard added the second just before the half hour. Steven Gerrard found his Liverpool team-mate Glen Johnson and Lampard arrived in the area with perfect timing to glide a header beyond Namasco.}}

    Derived terms

    * engulf * Gulf Coast * Gulf Stream * Gulf War * gulfweed * gulfy

    barrier

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A structure that bars passage.
  • An obstacle or impediment.
  • * {{quote-magazine, title=Towards the end of poverty
  • , date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=11, magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=America’s poverty line is $63 a day for a family of four. In the richer parts of the emerging world $4 a day is the poverty barrier . But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 ([…]): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.}}
  • A boundary or limit.
  • Derived terms

    * barrier reef * color barrier * crash barrier * diffusion-barrier * half-barrier * ice barrier * language barrier * racial barrier * sound barrier * tilt barrier * tire barrier * toll barrier