Gape

//ˈɡeɪp// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An act of gaping; a yawn. countable, uncommon, uncountable

    "Now a gen'ral gape goes round, And vapours cloud each sleepy head."

  2. 2
    a stare of amazement (usually with the mouth open) wordnet
  3. 3
    A large opening. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    an expression of openmouthed astonishment wordnet
  5. 5
    A disease in poultry caused by gapeworm in the windpipe, a symptom of which is frequent gaping. uncountable
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  1. 6
    The width of an opening. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    The maximum opening of the mouth (of a bird, fish, etc.) when it is open. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To open the mouth wide, especially involuntarily, as in a yawn, anger, or surprise. intransitive

    "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;"

  2. 2
    look with amazement; look stupidly wordnet
  3. 3
    To stare in wonder. intransitive

    "Home I vvould go, / But that my Dores are hatefull to my eyes. / Fill'd and damm'd up vvith gaping Creditors, / VVatchfull as Fovvlers vvhen their Game vvill ſpring; […]"

  4. 4
    be wide open wordnet
  5. 5
    To open wide; to display a gap. intransitive

    "The wound was gaping open and losing too much blood."

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  1. 6
    To open the passage to the vomeronasal organ, analogous to the flehming in other animals. intransitive
  2. 7
    To depict a dilated anal or vaginal cavity upon penetrative sexual activity.

Synonyms

All synonyms
goggleabysmabyssaperturearroyoattend

Example

More examples

"I can only gape at such perfection."

Etymology

From Middle English gapen, from Old Norse gapa (“to gape”) (compare Swedish gapa, Danish gabe), from Proto-Germanic *gapōną (descendants Middle English geapen, Dutch gapen, German gaffen), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰеh₂b-. Cognates include Russian зяпа (zjapa). Doublet of gap.

Related phrases

gape forgape seedgape-mouthed

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.