1
a
: a break in a barrier (such as a wall, hedge, or line of military defense)
b
: an assailable position
2
a
: a mountain pass
b
: ravine
3
4
a
: a separation in space
b
: an incomplete or deficient area
a gap in her knowledge
5
: a break in continuity : hiatus
6
: a break in the vascular cylinder of a plant where a vascular trace departs from the central cylinder
7
: lack of balance : disparity
the gap between imports and exports
8
: a wide difference in character or attitude
the generation gap
9
: a problem caused by some disparity
a communication gap
credibility gap
gapped; gapping
1
: to make an opening in
2
: to adjust the space between the electrodes of (a spark plug)
: to fall or stand open
Synonyms
Examples of gap in a Sentence
Noun
The child had a gap between her two front teeth.
The gap between the lead runner and the rest of the field continued to widen.
The sheep got through a gap in the fence.
There are unexplained gaps in his story.
The class filled in the gaps in my knowledge of biology.
She had taken several years off to raise a family, so there was a large gap in her work history.
Recent Examples on the Web
Ramishah Maruf, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024
But where photographers had struggled to capture the nuances and fiery hues of the sun’s corona, Butler succeeded by taking meticulous shorthand notes during the eclipses, then filling in the gaps later, a bit like a paint by numbers kit.
—Elissaveta M. Brandon, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Apr. 2024
That question became the impetus for a far-reaching survey Parsley Health recently commissioned among workforce-age women (between 18 to 60), the results of which reveal some staggering truths about the vast gap between spending and actual care.
—Fiorella Valdesolo, Vogue, 4 Apr. 2024
The gap between what Goldman Sachs Group Inc. pays men and women in its UK workforce widened to its highest level in six years, underlining the difficulties the Wall Street giant has had in retaining and attracting top female talent.
—Tom Metcalf, Fortune Europe, 4 Apr. 2024
The Families in Transition program is funded by a federal grant, and Tuesday's event generated money to fill the financial gap the federal dollars don't cover, Hart said.
—Al Gaspeny, arkansasonline.com, 3 Apr. 2024
The price gap narrows at the more expensive models, however.
—Alex Nishimoto, Quartz, 3 Apr. 2024
Trump's suburban-rural gap disappeared then re-emerged In effect, the Republicans’ suburban-rural gap over Trump had mostly disappeared.
—Craig Gilbert, Journal Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2024
The growing gap between Chinese and U.S. interest rates reversed what had been a large inflow of foreign capital into China, ultimately depressing the value of the renminbi vis-à-vis the dollar by 10 percent.
—Nicholas R. Lardy, Foreign Affairs, 2 Apr. 2024
Adam Sarhan, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024
The stock is prone to big moves after reporting earnings and can easily gap up if the numbers are strong.
—Adam Sarhan, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024
If the stock gaps up that will be bullish and can easily trigger another leg higher.
—Adam Sarhan, Forbes, 18 Apr. 2023
These lend themselves to gap financing or seed financing situations.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 4 Dec. 2023
But the panel gaps aside, production-ready versions of the Cybertruck aren’t without their defenders.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 29 Nov. 2023
To gap or not to gap After the final Apollo crewed flight in 1975, the US space agency had no capability to fly astronauts into space until the advent of the Space Shuttle in 1981.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 21 Nov. 2023
Some customers did report having to exchange the bra for a better size in order to prevent any compression or gapping that lead to the flanges falling out.
—Jasmine Gomez, Women's Health, 18 Aug. 2023
In that, gap analysis – linking routes to destinations – will be a major focus, but the ultimate goal will be bringing all the areas together to benefit the region.
—Bran Strickland | , al, 10 July 2023
Noun
Construction industry experts say the US needs to allow more legal immigrants to enter to fill a crucial labor gap.
—Ramishah Maruf, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024
But where photographers had struggled to capture the nuances and fiery hues of the sun’s corona, Butler succeeded by taking meticulous shorthand notes during the eclipses, then filling in the gaps later, a bit like a paint by numbers kit.
—Elissaveta M. Brandon, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Apr. 2024
That question became the impetus for a far-reaching survey Parsley Health recently commissioned among workforce-age women (between 18 to 60), the results of which reveal some staggering truths about the vast gap between spending and actual care.
—Fiorella Valdesolo, Vogue, 4 Apr. 2024
The gap between what Goldman Sachs Group Inc. pays men and women in its UK workforce widened to its highest level in six years, underlining the difficulties the Wall Street giant has had in retaining and attracting top female talent.
—Tom Metcalf, Fortune Europe, 4 Apr. 2024
The Families in Transition program is funded by a federal grant, and Tuesday's event generated money to fill the financial gap the federal dollars don't cover, Hart said.
—Al Gaspeny, arkansasonline.com, 3 Apr. 2024
The price gap narrows at the more expensive models, however.
—Alex Nishimoto, Quartz, 3 Apr. 2024
Trump's suburban-rural gap disappeared then re-emerged In effect, the Republicans’ suburban-rural gap over Trump had mostly disappeared.
—Craig Gilbert, Journal Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2024
The growing gap between Chinese and U.S. interest rates reversed what had been a large inflow of foreign capital into China, ultimately depressing the value of the renminbi vis-à-vis the dollar by 10 percent.
—Nicholas R. Lardy, Foreign Affairs, 2 Apr. 2024
Verb
Conversely, if the numbers disappoint, the stock can easily gap down.
—Adam Sarhan, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024
The stock is prone to big moves after reporting earnings and can easily gap up if the numbers are strong.
—Adam Sarhan, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024
If the stock gaps up that will be bullish and can easily trigger another leg higher.
—Adam Sarhan, Forbes, 18 Apr. 2023
These lend themselves to gap financing or seed financing situations.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 4 Dec. 2023
But the panel gaps aside, production-ready versions of the Cybertruck aren’t without their defenders.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 29 Nov. 2023
To gap or not to gap After the final Apollo crewed flight in 1975, the US space agency had no capability to fly astronauts into space until the advent of the Space Shuttle in 1981.
—Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 21 Nov. 2023
Some customers did report having to exchange the bra for a better size in order to prevent any compression or gapping that lead to the flanges falling out.
—Jasmine Gomez, Women's Health, 18 Aug. 2023
In that, gap analysis – linking routes to destinations – will be a major focus, but the ultimate goal will be bringing all the areas together to benefit the region.
—Bran Strickland | , al, 10 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gap.' 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 gap
Cite this Entry
“Gap.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gap. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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