gully

Thân thiện

A small gully has formed in the dirt path after the heavy rain.

Definition

Noun: 1. A deep ditch or channel cut into the earth by the flow of water, especially after heavy rain. It is a natural erosion feature, typically smaller than a ravine but larger than a rill.

Usage

The word "gully" is used to describe a specific landform created by water erosion. It often appears in geographical, environmental, or descriptive contexts. - It functions as a countable noun (e.g., a gully, several gullies). - It is often modified by adjectives describing its size, appearance, or location (e.g., steep gully, dry gully, mountain gully).

Examples

• The heavy rains carved a deep gully through the farmer's field.
• Hikers must be careful when crossing the rocky gully.
• Over many years, the small stream formed a gully at the base of the hill.

Advanced Usage

• "To gully" (verb, rare/technical): The process of forming gullies through erosion.
  • The unchecked runoff began to gully the hillside.
• "Gullied" (adjective): Land that has been eroded into gullies.
  • The landscape was badly gullied and difficult to farm.

Variants and Related Words

• Gulch (noun): A narrow and steep-sided ravine, often marking the course of a stream. Similar to a gully but may imply a larger or more dramatic feature, especially in North American usage.
• Arroyo (noun): A dry creek or stream bed that fills temporarily after rain, commonly used in the southwestern United States and Spanish-influenced regions.
• Ditch (noun): A long, narrow trench. While a gully is naturally formed, a ditch is typically man-made for drainage or demarcation.
• Wash (noun): The dry bed of an intermittent stream, or a shallow, wide channel.

Synonyms

• Ravine (a deep, narrow gorge, typically larger than a gully)
• Gorge (a narrow valley between hills or mountains, often with a stream running through it)
• Channel (a length of water wider than a strait, joining two larger areas of water, or a natural or artificial watercourse)
• Watercourse (a river, stream, or artificial channel for water)

Related Phrases/Idioms

• "Gully washer" (noun, informal, chiefly US): An extremely heavy rainstorm that is intense enough to create gullies.
  • We can't go out in that gully washer!

Học thuật

Noun

1. deep ditch cut by running water (especially after a prolonged downpour)