bay vs gulf

bay

noun
  • A body of water (especially the sea) more-or-less three-quarters surrounded by land. 

  • An internal recess; a compartment or area surrounded on three sides. 

  • A brown colour/color of the coat of some horses. 

  • The distance between two supports in a vault or building with a pitched roof. 

  • Laurus nobilis, a tree or shrub of the family Lauraceae, having dark green leaves and berries. 

  • A kind of mahogany obtained from Campeche in Mexico. 

  • An opening in a wall, especially between two columns. 

  • A state of being obliged to face an antagonist or a difficulty, when escape has become impossible. 

  • Each of the spaces, port and starboard, between decks, forward of the bitts, in sailing warships. 

  • Bay leaf, the leaf of this or certain other species of tree or shrub, used as a herb. 

  • A bay platform. 

  • A bay window. 

  • The excited howling of dogs when hunting or being attacked. 

  • A horse of this color. 

  • A bank or dam to keep back water. 

  • The climactic confrontation between hunting-dogs and their prey. 

  • A tract covered with bay trees. 

adj
  • Of a reddish-brown colour (especially of horses). 

verb
  • To howl. 

  • To pursue noisily, like a pack of hounds. 

  • To bark at; hence, to follow with barking; to bring or drive to bay. 

gulf

noun
  • A portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land; a partially landlocked sea 

  • The bottom part of a list of those awarded a degree, for those who have only just passed. 

  • That which swallows irretrievably; a whirlpool; a sucking eddy. 

  • A hollow place in the earth; an abyss; a deep chasm or basin. 

  • A large deposit of ore in a lode. 

  • A wide interval or gap; a separating space. 

  • A difference, especially a large difference, between groups. 

verb
  • To award a degree to somebody who has only just passed sufficiently. 

How often have the words bay and gulf occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )