Citations:abyss

English citations of abyss

1. Sense 1: Hell; the bottomless pit; primeval chaos; a confined subterranean ocean.

   • Ye powers and spirits of this nethermost abyss – John Milton
   • The throne is darkness, in the abyss of light – John Dryden
   • And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you – Friedrich Nietzsche

2. Sense 2: (frequently figuratively) A bottomless or unfathomed depth, gulf, or chasm; hence, any deep, immeasurable; any void space.

   • The abysses of metaphysical theology – Thomas Macaulay
   • In unfathomable abysses of disgrace – Edmund Burke

• 1818 – Mary Shelley. Frankenstein.

  I feel as if I were walking on the edge of a precipice, towards which thousands are crowding and endeavouring to plunge me into the abyss.