gap vs gulf

gap

noun
  • A vacant space or time. 

  • A vacancy, deficit, absence, or lack. 

  • The shortfall between the amount the medical insurer will pay to the service provider and the scheduled fee for the item. 

  • An opening in anything made by breaking or parting. 

  • A hiatus, a pause in something which is otherwise continuous. 

  • An opening allowing passage or entrance. 

  • An opening that implies a breach or defect. 

  • (usually written as "the gap") The disparity between the indigenous and non-indigenous communities with regard to life expectancy, education, health, etc. 

  • An unsequenced region in a sequence alignment. 

  • The regions between the outfielders. 

  • A mountain or hill pass. 

  • A sheltered area of coast between two cliffs (mostly restricted to place names). 

verb
  • To leave suddenly. 

  • To notch, as a sword or knife. 

  • To check the size of a gap. 

  • To make an opening in; to breach. 

gulf

noun
  • A wide interval or gap; a separating space. 

  • 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 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 gap and gulf occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )