Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Gasp
Gasp
(gȧsp)
, Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Gasped
(gȧspt)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Gasping
.] [OE.
gaspen
, gaispen
, to yawn, gasp, Icel. geispa
to yawn; akin to Sw. gäspa
, Dan. gispe
to gasp.] 1.
To open the mouth wide in catching the breath, or in laborious respiration; to labor for breath; to respire convulsively; to pant violently.
She
gasps
and struggles hard for life. Lloyd.
2.
To pant with eagerness; to show vehement desire.
Quenching the
gasping
furrows’ thirst with rain. Spenser.
Gasp
,Verb.
T.
To emit or utter with gasps; – with forth, out, away, etc.
And with short sobs he
gasps
away his breath. Dryden.
Gasp
,Noun.
The act of opening the mouth convulsively to catch the breath; a labored respiration; a painful catching of the breath.
At the last gasp
, at the point of death.
Addison.
Webster 1828 Edition
Gasp
G`ASP
, v.i.1.
To open the mouth wide in catching the breath or in laborious respiration; particularly in dying.2.
To long for. [Not in use.]G`ASP
,Verb.
T.
And with short sobs he gasps away his breath.
G`ASP
,Noun.
1.
The short catch of the breath in the agonies of death.