subs. (old).—1. The throat; also the maw. For synonyms, see GUTTER-ALLEY.
1579. SPENSER, The Shepheardes Calender, Sept. That with many a lamb had glutted his GULF.
2. (Cambridge University).—The bottom of a list of ‘passes,’ with the names of those who only just succeed in getting their degree.
1852. BRISTED, Five Years in an English University, p. 205. Some ten or fifteen men just on the line, not bad enough to be plucked, or good enough to be placed, are put into the ‘GULF,’ as it is popularly called (the Examiners’ phrase is ‘Degrees allowed’), and have their degrees given them, but are not printed in the Calendar.
3. (Oxford University).—A man who, going in for honours, only gets a pass.
Verb (Cambridge University).—To place in the GULF, subs., sense 2 (q.v.); TO BE GULFED = to be on such a list. [Men so placed were not eligible for the Classical Tripos]. Cf., PLUCK and PLOUGH.
1827. J. M. F. WRIGHT, Alma Mater, or, Seven Years at the University of Cambridge, Vol. II., p. 97. I discovered, to my great and unspeakable satisfaction, that my name was no where to be found—that I was GULPHED.
1853. REV. E. BRADLEY (‘Cuthbert Bede’), The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green, an Oxford Freshman, pt. iii., p. 89. I am not going to let them GULPH me a second time.
1863. H. KINGSLEY, Austin Elliot, p. 123. The good Professor scolded, predicted that they would all be either GULFED or ploughed.
1865. Sporting Gazette, 1 April. A man who was GULFED for mathematical honours was certainly, in olden time, unable to enter for the classical examination; but though the arrangement is altered, the term is not obsolete. A man who is GULFED is considered to know enough mathematics for an ordinary degree, but not enough to be allowed his degree in mathematics only; he is consequently obliged to pass in all the ordinary subjects (except mathematics) for the ‘poll,’ before taking his degree.
1876. TREVELYAN, Life of Macaulay (1884), ch. ii., p. 61. When the Tripos of 1822 made its appearance, his name did not grace the list. In short … Macaulay was GULFED.
