From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishabyssa‧byss /əˈbɪs/ noun [countable] 1 DANGEROUSa very dangerous or frightening situationabyss of The country might plunge into the abyss of economic ruin. At that time Bosnia was standing on the edge of an abyss.2 SGa deep empty hole in the ground3 DIFFERENTa very big difference that separates two people or groups the gaping abyss between these grand buildings and my own miserable home
Examples from the Corpus
abyss• Critics accused Yeltsin of leading the country into an abyss.• Matthew found himself standing at the edge of a deep abyss.• The economic abyss between developed and undeveloped countries is widening.• It surpasses even the natural abysses of the ocean floor.• Bushnell stood on the rim of the canyon, with the rocky abyss behind him.• Penelope felt a sunken abyss within her gorged with sadness.• Reason says the same laws of economics that brought the market down should keep it from spiraling into the abyss.• Behind him is the abyss, the gaping cavern of the gold mine, down and down into the earth.• He remembered Hause Point, he remembered the abyss he had so often fallen into.• Without such works of grace the world would rush even more rapidly towards the abyss.abyss of• the abyss of warOrigin abyss (1300-1400) Late Latin abyssus, from Greek, from abyssos “bottomless”, from a- “without” + byssos “depth” 