gulch

English

Alternative forms

• gulk, glutch (dialectal)

Etymology

From earlier gulsh (“sink in, gush out”), from Middle English gulchen (“to gulp, spew”), probably from the source of gulp. Likely not related to gully (“ravine formed by water”) despite the similarities.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡʌlt͡ʃ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌltʃ

Verb

gulch (third-person singular simple present gulches, present participle gulching, simple past and past participle gulched)

1. (obsolete) To swallow greedily; to gulp down.
2. (obsolete) To fall heavily.

Derived terms

• (gulp): gulch-cup

Noun

gulch (plural gulches)

1. A ravine-like or deep V-shaped valley, often eroded by flash floods; shallower than a canyon and deeper than a gully.
   • 1963, J P Donleavy, A Singular Man, published 1963 (USA), page 47:

     "A crack is progressing up through the Goldminers' apartment. They are most disturbed by the appearance of this gulch in their wall since it undermines their confidence in the structure of the building which as you know my management has taken great care to keep sound and durable."

2. (obsolete) An act of gulching or gulping.
3. (obsolete) A glutton.
   • 1601, Ben Jonson, The Poetaster, act 3, scene 1:

     You did not! where was your sight, Œdipus? you walk with hare's eyes, do you? I'll have them glazed, rogue; an you say the word, they shall be glazed for you: come we must have you turn fiddler again, slave, get a base viol at your back, and march in a tawney coat, with one sleeve, to Goose-fair; then you'll know us, you'll see us then, you will, gulch, you will.

   • 1607, Thomas Tomkis, Lingua, or the Combat of the Tongue and the Five Senses for Superiority‎^[1], published 1657, act 5, scene 16:

     You muddy gulche, darst look me in the face while mine eyes sparkle with revengeful fire?

Derived terms

• (ravine): drygulch
• (glutton): gulchin

Translations

act of gulping — see gulp

glutton — see glutton

a narrow v-shaped valley

• Bulgarian: клисура (bg) f (klisura)
• Czech: roklina (cs) f, rokle (cs) f
• Dutch: kloof (nl) f
• Finnish: kuru (fi)
• French: ravin (fr) m
• German: (tiefe) Schlucht f
• Italian: burrone (it) m, valle stretta f
• Maori: āpiti
• Russian: ущелье (ru) (uščelʹje)
• Spanish: garganta (es) f
• Venetan: gola (vec) f, goƚa (vec)

References

• Whitney, William Dwight, ed., The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia, New York: The Century Co., 1902.