Adjacent Words

Gape definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

G`APE, v.i.
1. To open the mouth wide, from sleepiness, drowsiness or dullness; to yawn.
2. To open the mouth for food, as young birds.
3. To gape for or after, to desire earnestly; to crave; to look and long for; as, men often gape after court favor.
The hungry grave for her due tribute gapes.
To gape at, in a like sense, is hardly correct.
4. To open in fissures or crevices; as a gaping rock.
May that ground gape, and swallow me alive.
5. To have a hiatus; as one vowel gaping on another.
6. To open the mouth in wonder or surprise; as the gaping fool; the gaping crowd.
7. To utter sound with open throat.
8. To open the mouth with hope or expectation.
9. To open the mouth with a desire to injure or devour.
They have gaped upon me with their mouth. Job 16.
G`APE, n. A gaping.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an expression of openmouthed astonishment
2: a stare of amazement (usually with the mouth open) v
1: look with amazement; look stupidly [syn: goggle, gape, gawp, gawk]
2: be wide open; "the deep gaping canyon" [syn: gape, yawn, yaw]

Merriam Webster's

I. intransitive verb (gaped; gaping) Etymology: Middle English, from Old Norse gapa; perhaps akin to Latin hiare to gape, yawn — more at yawn Date: 13th century 1. a. to open the mouth wide b. to open or part widely <holes gaped in the pavement> 2. to gaze stupidly or in openmouthed surprise or wonder 3. yawn • gapingly adverb II. noun Date: 1535 1. an act of gaping: a. yawn b. an openmouthed stare 2. an unfilled space or extent 3. a. the median margin-to-margin length of the open mouth b. the line along which the mandibles of a bird close c. the width of an opening 4. plural but singular in construction a. a disease of birds and especially young birds in which gapeworms invade and irritate the trachea b. a fit of yawning

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.intr. 1 a open one's mouth wide, esp. in amazement or wonder. b be or become wide open. 2 (foll. by at) gaze curiously or wondrously. 3 split; part asunder. 4 yawn. --n. 1 an open-mouthed stare. 2 a yawn. 3 (in pl.; prec. by the) a a disease of birds with gaping as a symptom, caused by infestation with gapeworm. b joc. a fit of yawning. 4 a an expanse of open mouth or beak. b the part of a beak that opens. 5 a rent or opening. Derivatives: gapingly adv. Etymology: ME f. ON gapa

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gape Gape (?; in Eng, commonly ?; 277), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gaped (? or ?); p. pr. & vb. n. Gaping] [OE. gapen, AS. geapan to open; akin to D. gapen to gape, G. gaffen, Icel. & Sw. gapa, Dan. gabe; cf. Skr. jabh to snap at, open the mouth. Cf. Gaby, Gap.] 1. To open the mouth wide; as: (a) Expressing a desire for food; as, young birds gape. --Dryden. (b) Indicating sleepiness or indifference; to yawn. She stretches, gapes, unglues her eyes, And asks if it be time to rise. --Swift. (c) Showing self-forgetfulness in surprise, astonishment, expectation, etc. With gaping wonderment had stared aghast. --Byron. (d) Manifesting a desire to injure, devour, or overcome. They have gaped upon me with their mouth. --Job xvi. 10. 2. To pen or part widely; to exhibit a gap, fissure, or hiatus. May that ground gape and swallow me alive! --Shak. 3. To long, wait eagerly, or cry aloud for something; -- with for, after, or at. The hungry grave for her due tribute gapes. --Denham. Syn: To gaze; stare; yawn. See Gaze.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gape Gape, n. 1. The act of gaping; a yawn. --Addison. 2. (Zo["o]l.) The width of the mouth when opened, as of birds, fishes, etc.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(gapes, gaping, gaped) 1. If you gape, you look at someone or something in surprise, usually with an open mouth. His secretary stopped taking notes to gape at me... ...a grotesque face with its gaping mouth. VERB: V at n, V-ing, also V 2. If you say that something such as a hole or a wound gapes, you are emphasizing that it is big or wide. The front door was missing. A hole gaped in the roof. VERB: V [emphasis] • gaping The aircraft took off with a gaping hole in its fuselage. ...a gaping wound in her back. ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. 1. Yawn. 2. Open the mouth (as in staring). 3. Open, dehisce, yawn, be opened, be separated.

Moby Thesaurus

abysm, abyss, aperture, arroyo, attend, be amazed, be astonished, be curious, bedroom eyes, bore, box canyon, breach, break, broaching, burn with curiosity, canyon, cavity, chap, chasm, check, chimney, chink, clearing, cleft, cleuch, clough, col, come-hither look, coulee, couloir, crack, crane, crane the neck, cranny, crevasse, crevice, cut, cwm, defile, dehisce, dehiscence, dell, dig around for, dig up, dike, disclosure, ditch, donga, draw, evil eye, excavation, eye, fault, fenestra, fissure, fistula, flaw, flume, fontanel, foramen, fracture, furrow, gap, gaping, gash, gat, gaup, gawk, gaze, gaze open-mouthed, glad eye, glare, gloat, glower, glowering look, goggle, gorge, groove, gulch, gulf, gully, hang open, hiatus, hole, hollow, incision, inlet, inquire, interrogate, interval, joint, kloof, lacuna, laying open, leak, look, look at, look on, malocchio, marvel, moat, nose around for, nose out, notch, nullah, ogle, opening, opening up, orifice, oscitancy, oscitate, oscitation, outlet, pandiculation, part, pass, passage, passageway, peer, penetrating look, pore, query, question, quiz, ravine, rent, rift, rime, rubber, rubberneck, rupture, scissure, seam, seek, slit, slot, space, split, stand aghast, stand on tiptoe, stare, stare at, stare down, stare hard, stare openmouthed, stoma, take in, the gapes, throwing open, trench, uncorking, unstopping, valley, void, wadi, want to know, watch, yaw, yawn, yawning