Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

gape

[geyp, gap]
See more synonyms for gape on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object), gaped, gap·ing.
  1. to stare with open mouth, as in wonder.
  2. to open the mouth wide involuntarily, as the result of hunger, sleepiness, or absorbed attention.
  3. to open as a gap; split or become open wide.
Show More
noun
  1. a wide opening; gap; breach.
  2. an act or instance of gaping.
  3. a stare, as in astonishment or with the mouth wide open.
  4. a yawn.
  5. Zoology. the width of the open mouth.
Show More

Origin of gape

1175–1225; Middle English < Old Norse gapa to open the mouth wide; compare German gaffen
Related formsgap·ing·ly, adverbsub·gape, verb (used without object), sub·gaped, sub·gap·ing.un·gap·ing, adjective

Synonyms

See more synonyms for gape on Thesaurus.com
1. See gaze. 2, 3. yawn.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for gape

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • But I could not speak; I could only gape, choking and giddy.

  • The gape of his enormous jaws was nearly as wide as the gateway of the king's palace.

    Tanglewood Tales

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

  • The Duke sank back in his chair to gape at his impetuous cousin.

    Love-at-Arms

    Raphael Sabatini

  • At that instant the whole of the heavens seemed to split and gape open.

    The Golden Woman

    Ridgwell Cullum

  • They gape round him while he twangs and screeches, the wind-bag!

    Romance

    Joseph Conrad and F.M. Hueffer

British Dictionary definitions for gape

gape

verb (intr)
  1. to stare in wonder or amazement, esp with the mouth open
  2. to open the mouth wide, esp involuntarily, as in yawning or hunger
  3. to be or become wide openthe crater gaped under his feet
Show More
noun
  1. the act of gaping
  2. a wide opening; breach
  3. the width of the widely opened mouth of a vertebrate
  4. a stare or expression of astonishment
Show More
See also gapes

Word Origin

C13: from Old Norse gapa; related to Middle Dutch gapen, Danish gabe
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gape

v.

early 13c., from an unrecorded Old English word or else from Old Norse gapa "to open the mouth, gape," common West Germanic (cf. Middle Dutch, Dutch gapen, German gaffen "to gape, stare," Swedish gapa, Danish gabe), from PIE *ghai- (see gap). Related: Gaped; gaping. As a noun, from 1530s.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper