gapping
a rule of transformational grammar by which repeated instances of a verb are deleted from conjoined sentences, as in the deletion of brought from Mary brought the bread, John the cheese, and Bill the wine.
Origin of gapping
1Words Nearby gapping
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use gapping in a sentence
They are very irregular, and the gapping does not go down too deeply into the cortex.
Warren Commission (4 of 26): Hearings Vol. IV (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President KennedyThe upper end of it having apparently lost some tissue was gapping more than the lower portion of it.
Warren Commission (4 of 26): Hearings Vol. IV (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President KennedyHe had but just reached this decision when he came upon a gapping hole in the hose.
The Boy Chums in the Gulf of Mexico | Wilmer M. Ely"'T is more afraid I am of gapping the fine edge of your Excellency by contact with my own ruggedness," said Billy, obsequiously.
The Fortunes Of Glencore | Charles James Lever
British Dictionary definitions for gapping
/ (ˈɡæpɪŋ) /
(in transformational grammar) a rule that deletes repetitions of a verb, as in the sentence Bill voted for Smith, Sam for McKay, and Dave for Harris
the act or practice of taking a gap year
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
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