gape

verb \ ˈgāp , sometimes ˈgap \

Updated on: 15 Apr 2018

Definition of gape

gaped; gaping

intransitive verb

1 a : to open the mouth wide

b : to open or part widely

holes gaped in the pavement

2 : to gaze stupidly or in openmouthed surprise or wonder

gaped at the squabbling monkeys

3 : yawn

The dull lecture made the students gape.

—

gapingly

play \ˈgā-piŋ-lē, ˈga-piŋ-\ adverb

See gape defined for English-language learners

See gape defined for kids

Examples of gape in a Sentence

she suddenly realized she had been gaping at the good-looking waiter instead of giving him her order

Recent Examples of gape from the Web

People walked out but no one noticed because so many more people wanted to gape at the big Cheeto man forming words.

— anne branigin, The Root, "What You Need to Know About Trump’s Speech to the World’s Richest White Men," 26 Jan. 2018
Visitors from China, France and Appleton, Wisconsin, continued to gape at the Bellagio’s water show.

— james rainey, NBC News, "Las Vegas Tourists Undaunted After Concert Shooting," 5 Oct. 2017
Imago Fulvio also has a key to the side door, so guides can bring groups in to gape at the Renaissance frescoes.

— andrea bartz, Vogue, "Exactly How to Get Into Rome’s Most Beautiful Off-Limits Attractions," 17 Aug. 2017
At one point the model and cookbook author leaned over her husband, causing her flowing, loose-fitting black jumpsuit to gape in the front, giving the audience a little bit of a peep show.

— andrea park, Glamour, "In Which Chrissy Teigen Grinds on John Legend During His New York Concert," 28 June 2017
The rule: Blazers will gape open awkwardly in the front or lie awkwardly against your body.

— charles manning, Cosmopolitan, "8 Rules For Dressing a Large Bust You Should Seriously Never Follow," 26 Apr. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gape.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of gape

Middle English gapen, borrowed from Old Norse gapa, going back to Germanic *gapōn- (whence Middle Dutch gapen "to gaze stupidly," Middle High German gaffen), perhaps of phonesthemic origin

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

gape Synonyms

gape

noun

Definition of gape

1 : an act of opening the mouth wide:

a : yawn

b : an openmouthed stare

2 : an unfilled space or extent

3 a : the median margin-to-margin length of the open mouth

b : the line along which the mandibles (see mandible 1c) of a bird close

c : the width of an opening

4 gapes plural in form but singular in construction

a : a disease of birds and especially young birds in which gapeworms invade and irritate the trachea (see trachea 1)

b : a fit of yawning

Examples of gape in a Sentence

I told him to stop staring, that his rather stupid gape was annoying.

Recent Examples of gape from the Web

The Mom star recently sat down as a guest on Dax Shepard's new Armchair Expert podcast and had a candid chat about her feelings on shopping malls, parenting, and the gender wage gape.

— jackie frere, Redbook, "Anna Faris Doesn’t Know If She Believes in Marriage After Her Divorce from Chris Pratt," 27 Mar. 2018
To deepen the illusion that life is just one big fashion spread, we've been trained to 1) smize, 2) duck face, 3) squinch, and now, 4) fish gape.

— chelsea peng, Marie Claire, "News Flash: The Duck Face Has Been Replaced by the Fish Gape," 1 Oct. 2015
Anglerfish, with their menacing gape and dangling lure, are among the most curious inhabitants of the deep ocean.

— katie langin, Science | AAAS, "Exclusive: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it’. Video of mating deep-sea anglerfish stuns biologists," 22 Mar. 2018
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?

— refinery29.com, "17 Movies Every Woman Should See At Least Once," 8 Mar. 2018
The duck face, the fish gape, the vague arm raise – getting a likeable Inta involves a lot of really random trends.

— kelsey stiegman, Seventeen, "Fashion Bloggers Are Obsessed With This Super Weird Instagram Trend," 24 Jan. 2018
The boy had run out into the road to gape at a helicopter pulling security for Power’s team of VIPs.

— kyle smith, National Review, "The Final Year Reveals the Obama Administration’s Naïvety and Arrogance," 23 Jan. 2018
Maritza Díaz, a 72-year-old homemaker, gapes at the prices of the products on display at La Limpia market in Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second-largest city.

— gustavo ocando alex, miamiherald, "A homemade Christmas dish is the latest casualty of Venezuela’s economic crisis," 14 Dec. 2017
The team collected a sample of fish on the Miranda River flood plain in the Pantanal, measured the lengths of their specimens and the gapes of their jaws with callipers, and then analysed the animals’ gut contents under a microscope.

— The Economist, "Tropical ecologyBig fish keep tropical forests healthy," 12 Dec. 2017