abysm
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /əˈbɪz.m̩/
  • (America) IPA: /əˈbɪz.m̩/
Noun

abysm (plural abysms)

  1. (archaic, poetic) Hell; the infernal pit; the great deep; the primal chaos. [from between 1150 and 1350]
  2. (now chiefly, literary) An abyss; a gulf, a chasm, a very deep hole. [from late 15th century]
    • 1623, Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, III, xiii:
      The abysm of hell.
    • 1946, Mervyn Peake, Titus Groan, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, “The Grotto”
      Dr. Prunesquallor had circled around Steerpike with his head drawn back so that his cervical vertebrae rested against the near wall of his high collar, and a plumbless abysm yawned between his Adam’s apple and his pearl stud.



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