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abyss

Pronunciation: /əˈbɪs/

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Definition of abyss

noun

  • a deep or seemingly bottomless chasm:a rope led down into the dark abyss
  • a wide or profound difference between people; a gulf:the abyss between the two nations
  • the regions of hell conceived of as a bottomless pit:Satan’s dark abyss
  • (the abyss) a catastrophic situation seen as likely to occur:teetering on the edge of the abyss of a total political wipeout

Origin:

late Middle English (in the sense 'infernal pit'): via late Latin from Greek abussos 'bottomless', from a- 'without' + bussos 'depth'

abyss in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of abyss in the US English dictionary

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