Both Uses of
chasm
in
The Souls of Black Folk
- Since then a new adjustment of relations in economic and political affairs has grown up,—an adjustment subtle and difficult to grasp, yet singularly ingenious, which leaves still that frightful chasm at the color-line across which men pass at their peril.†
Chpt 6 *chasm = a large gap or divide
- He marches briskly up to it, peers into the chasm in a surprised sort of way, and rubs his feelers reflectively; then he essays its depths, and, finding it bottomless, draws back again.†
Chpt 12
Definition:
a large and deep and steep-sided opening on the earth's surface; or (more rarely) any large gap
or:
a very large difference -- often of opinion
or:
a very large difference -- often of opinion