gaped; gaping
1
a
: to open the mouth wide
b
: to open or part widely
holes gaped in the pavement
2
: to gaze stupidly or in open-mouthed surprise or wonder
gaped at the squabbling monkeys
3
: yawn
The dull lecture made the students gape.
plural gapes
1
: an act or instance of opening the mouth wide or of keeping the mouth open wide
One piranha, she discovered, went from wide-open gape to shut jaws in less than five milliseconds, far faster than the wink of an eye.—
Per Ola d'Aulaire and Emily d'Aulaire
Per Ola d'Aulaire and Emily d'AulaireIt seemed his mouth was always sort of hanging open in a stupid gape …—Jill McCorkle
Jill McCorkleAt first glance, the case seemed routine, and the suspects elicited no gapes [=open-mouthed looks] of surprise …—Michael Powell and Nicholas Confessore
Michael Powell and Nicholas ConfessoreShe was pushing an unwieldy shopping cart in the street, trying to keep out of the way of oncoming cars, ignoring the gapes of passersby.—Joan Levine
—often used in combinationJoan Levinegape-mouthed
He looked at his men, all of them staring gape-jawed at him …—David Abrams
David Abrams
sometimes, specifically
: yawn entry 2 sense 2
… another hour of pleasure or of penance was to be sat out, another hour of music was to give delight or the gapes [=a fit of yawning] … —Jane Austen
Jane Austen 2
a
: the expanse of an open mouth : the opening formed by the open mouth of an animal (such as a bird, fish, or snake)
An eel, like most fishes, amphibians, and reptiles, is gape limited, meaning it can eat only what it can swallow …—Gene S. Helfman
Gene S. Helfman
b
: the line along which the mandibles (see mandible sense 1c) of a bird close
3
a
: something resembling an open mouth (such as an unfilled space or extent)
A hole, in whitewater parlance, is a recirculating maw of foam. … Its gape shows like a frothy smirk or, depending on viewpoint, a frown.—David Quammen
David Quammen
b
: the width of an opening
… gyratory crushers having a gape suitable for the coarsest crushing …—A. M. Gaudin
A. M. Gaudin4
gapes plural in form but singular in construction
: a disease of birds and especially young birds in which gapeworms invade and irritate the trachea (see trachea sense 1)
a case of gapes
—often used with the… an outbreak of the gapes, a disease of fowls caused by worms in the windpipe.—John Cheever
John CheeverSynonyms
Examples of gape in a Sentence
Verb
she suddenly realized she had been gaping at the good-looking waiter instead of giving him her order
Noun
I told him to stop staring, that his rather stupid gape was annoying.
Recent Examples on the WebChris Isidore, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
Two of the vehicles were destroyed, and a third had a gaping hole in its roof next to the seal that identified it as belonging to World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by the chef José Andrés.
—Adam Rasgon, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Local residents said they were shocked by the sight of the gaping hole above the bay where the bridge had stood for nearly a half-century.
—Rich Schapiro, NBC News, 27 Mar. 2024
Senior Kayla Padilla’s eyes bulged out of their socks, her mouth a gaping O. Watkins ran down the baseline in glee to nowhere, then turned back in a jump-for-joy huddle with McKenzie Forbes and Marshall.
—Luca Evans, Orange County Register, 18 Mar. 2024
Donald’s departure leaves a gaping hole in a defense under the direction of first-year coordinator Chris Shula.
—Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2024
The Boeing 737-9 aircraft was on its way to Ontario, California, from Portland, Oregon, when passengers witnessed a large section of the plane rip off, which exposed them to a gaping hole in the side of the aircraft.
—Natalia Senanayake, Peoplemag, 25 Mar. 2024
Passenger Cuong Tran, from Upland, California, sat a row behind the gaping hole.
—Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2024
The passenger said his seatbelt saved him from being sucked out of the gaping hole.
—Cara Tabachnick, CBS News, 22 Mar. 2024
Priya Krishna, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2024
Black rat snakes, on the other hand, could only expand their gape by about 19 percent.
—Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Sep. 2023
And deep in the North Atlantic Ocean, an anglerfish gapes into the gloom.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 10 Dec. 2023
But her greatest nonmusical achievement is the innocuous art she’s made of the gape.
—Wesley Morris, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2023
Jayne says in the statement that the Gans’ egg-eaters’ larger gape may serve an important evolutionary purpose.
—Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Sep. 2023
There is a moment when Ray refuses to accompany Ken to the roof of a bell tower and gape at the skyline together.
—Hazlitt, 17 May 2023
Which of us, after seeing Little Miss Sunshine, doesn't often think of Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) performing her pageant routine with confidence, completely disregarding the collective open-mouthed gape of the adults in the room?
—Elena Nicolaou, refinery29.com, 12 Oct. 2021
Zoo-goers gape.
—James V. Grimaldi, WSJ, 11 Aug. 2022
Verb
But after the January 5 door plug blowout, causing a gaping hole in the side of the jet, Boeing’s reputation for safety and quality may have reached an all-time low.
—Chris Isidore, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
Two of the vehicles were destroyed, and a third had a gaping hole in its roof next to the seal that identified it as belonging to World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by the chef José Andrés.
—Adam Rasgon, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Local residents said they were shocked by the sight of the gaping hole above the bay where the bridge had stood for nearly a half-century.
—Rich Schapiro, NBC News, 27 Mar. 2024
Senior Kayla Padilla’s eyes bulged out of their socks, her mouth a gaping O. Watkins ran down the baseline in glee to nowhere, then turned back in a jump-for-joy huddle with McKenzie Forbes and Marshall.
—Luca Evans, Orange County Register, 18 Mar. 2024
Donald’s departure leaves a gaping hole in a defense under the direction of first-year coordinator Chris Shula.
—Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2024
The Boeing 737-9 aircraft was on its way to Ontario, California, from Portland, Oregon, when passengers witnessed a large section of the plane rip off, which exposed them to a gaping hole in the side of the aircraft.
—Natalia Senanayake, Peoplemag, 25 Mar. 2024
Passenger Cuong Tran, from Upland, California, sat a row behind the gaping hole.
—Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2024
The passenger said his seatbelt saved him from being sucked out of the gaping hole.
—Cara Tabachnick, CBS News, 22 Mar. 2024
Noun
The question seemed to vex the many passers-by who stopped to gape.
—Priya Krishna, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2024
Black rat snakes, on the other hand, could only expand their gape by about 19 percent.
—Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Sep. 2023
And deep in the North Atlantic Ocean, an anglerfish gapes into the gloom.
—Natasha Frost, New York Times, 10 Dec. 2023
But her greatest nonmusical achievement is the innocuous art she’s made of the gape.
—Wesley Morris, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2023
Jayne says in the statement that the Gans’ egg-eaters’ larger gape may serve an important evolutionary purpose.
—Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Sep. 2023
There is a moment when Ray refuses to accompany Ken to the roof of a bell tower and gape at the skyline together.
—Hazlitt, 17 May 2023
Which of us, after seeing Little Miss Sunshine, doesn't often think of Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) performing her pageant routine with confidence, completely disregarding the collective open-mouthed gape of the adults in the room?
—Elena Nicolaou, refinery29.com, 12 Oct. 2021
Zoo-goers gape.
—James V. Grimaldi, WSJ, 11 Aug. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gape.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near gape
Cite this Entry
“Gape.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gape. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
gape
1 of 2 verb
gaped; gaping
1
a
: to open the mouth wide
b
: to open or part widely
2
: to stare with mouth open in surprise or wonder
gaper
noun
gape
2 of 2 noun1
: an act or instance of gaping
2
: an unfilled space
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share