gap
[gap]
- a break or opening, as in a fence, wall, or military line; breach: We found a gap in the enemy's line of fortifications.
- an empty space or interval; interruption in continuity; hiatus: a momentary gap in a siren's wailing; a gap in his memory.
- a wide divergence or difference; disparity: the gap between expenses and income; the gap between ideals and actions.
- a difference or disparity in attitudes, perceptions, character, or development, or a lack of confidence or understanding, perceived as creating a problem: the technology gap; a communications gap.
- a deep, sloping ravine or cleft through a mountain ridge.
- Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. a mountain pass: the Cumberland Gap.
- Aeronautics. the distance between one supporting surface of an airplane and another above or below it.
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- to make a gap, opening, or breach in.
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- to come open or apart; form or show a gap.
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Origin of gap
1350–1400; Middle English < Old Norse gap chasm
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
releasefreeexpanddisclosejimmytappunctureburstventpopunlockunblockbareunfastengapeunsealventilatefissureunwrapbroachExamples from the Web for gapped
Contemporary Examples
She plays, she races into school, she flashes her gapped teeth.
Historical Examples
He heard a low sob, and it cut through him like a gapped and rusty blade.
The Cottage of DelightWill N. Harben
He took the axe from her, and ran his thumb along the blunt and gapped edge.
Dixie HartWill N. Harben
Other facts show that the "gapped" branches did not behave quite normally.
The brute slowly opened its huge mouth and disclosed the cruel, gapped teeth.
The Jungle GirlGordon Casserly
No; not anything unusual about the front ones, but the hip pockets were gapped open and sagged down.
Warren Commission (10 of 26): Hearings Vol. X (of 15)The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
gap
- a break or opening in a wall, fence, etc
- a break in continuity; interruption; hiatusthere is a serious gap in the accounts
- a break in a line of hills or mountains affording a route through
- mainly US a gorge or ravine
- a divergence or difference; disparitythere is a gap between his version of the event and hers; the generation gap
- electronics
- a break in a magnetic circuit that increases the inductance and saturation point of the circuit
- See spark gap
- bridge a gap, close a gap, fill a gap or stop a gap to remedy a deficiency
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- (tr) to make a breach or opening in
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Word Origin
C14: from Old Norse gap chasm; related to gapa to gape, Swedish gap, Danish gab open mouth, opening
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 gapped
gap
n.
early 14c. (mid-13c. in place names), from Old Norse gap "chasm," related to gapa "to gape," from PIE *ghai- "to yawn, gape" (see yawn (v.)). Originally "hole in a wall or hedge;" broader sense is 16c. In U.S., common in place names in reference to a break or pass in a long mountain chain (especially one that water flows through). As a verb from 1847.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
gap
(găp)- An opening in a structure or surface; a cleft or breach.
- An interval or discontinuity in any series or sequence.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.