Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Gape
Gape
(gäp; in Eng, commonly gāp; 277)
, Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Gaped
(gäpt or gāpt)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Gaping
] 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,
And asks if it be time to rise.
gapes
, unglues her eyes,And asks if it be time to rise.
Swift.
(c)
Showing unselfconsciousness in surprise, astonishment, expectation, etc.
(d)
Manifesting a desire to injure, devour, or overcome.
They have
gaped
upon me with their mouth. Job xvi. 10.
2.
To open or part widely; to exhibit a gap, fissure, or hiatus.
May that ground
gape
and swallow me alive! Shakespeare
3.
To long, wait eagerly, or cry aloud for something; – with for, after, or at.
Syn. – To gaze; stare; yawn. See
Gaze
. Gape
,Noun.
1.
The act of gaping; a yawn.
Addison.
2.
(Zool.)
The width of the mouth when opened, as of birds, fishes, etc.
The gapes
. (a)
A fit of yawning.
(b)
A disease of young poultry and other birds, attended with much gaping. It is caused by a parasitic nematode worm (
Syngamus trachealis
), in the windpipe, which obstructs the breathing. See Gapeworm
.Webster 1828 Edition
Gape
G`APE
,Verb.
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.
Definition 2024
gape
gape
English
Verb
gape (third-person singular simple present gapes, present participle gaping, simple past and past participle gaped)
- (intransitive) To open the mouth wide, especially involuntarily, as in a yawn, anger, or surprise.
- 1723, Jonathan Swift, The Journal of a Modern Lady, 1810, Samuel Johnson, The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper, Volume 11, page 467,
- She stretches, gapes, unglues her eyes, / And asks if it be time to rise;
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 9, in The China Governess:
- Eustace gaped at him in amazement. When his urbanity dropped away from him, as now, he had an innocence of expression which was almost infantile. It was as if the world had never touched him at all.
- 1723, Jonathan Swift, The Journal of a Modern Lady, 1810, Samuel Johnson, The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper, Volume 11, page 467,
- (intransitive) To stare in wonder.
- (intransitive) To open wide; to display a gap.
- c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Third Part of King Henry VI, Act 1, Scene 1, 1807, Samuel Johnson, George Steevens (editors),The plays of William Shakspeare, Volume X, page 291,
- May that ground gape, and swallow me alive, / Where I shall kneel to him who slew my father!
- 1662, Henry More, An Antidote Against Atheism, Book II, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 74:
- "Nor is he deterr'd from the belief of the perpetual flying of the Manucodiata, by the gaping of the feathers of her wings, (which seem thereby less fit to sustain her body) but further makes the narration probable by what he has observed in Kites hovering in the Aire, as he saith, for a whole hour together without any flapping of their wings or changing place."
- a. 1699, John Denham, Cato Major, Of Old Age: A Poem, 1710, page 25,
- The hungry grave for her due tribute gapes:
- c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Third Part of King Henry VI, Act 1, Scene 1, 1807, Samuel Johnson, George Steevens (editors),The plays of William Shakspeare, Volume X, page 291,
- (intransitive) Of a cat: to open the passage to the vomeronasal organ, analogous to the flehming in other animals.
Translations
to open the mouth wide
to stare in wonderment
to open wide
Noun
An illustration showing the gape (maximum opening) of the mouth of a cobra
gape (countable and uncountable, plural gapes)
- (uncommon) An act of gaping; a yawn.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)
- A large opening.
- (uncountable) A disease in poultry caused by gapeworm in the windpipe, a symptom of which is frequent gaping.
- The width of an opening.
- (zoology) The maximum opening of the mouth (of a bird, fish, etc.) when it is open.
Derived terms
Translations
a yawn
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