gape

noun

plural gapes

1

: an act or instance of opening the mouth wide or of keeping the mouth open wide

her open-mouthed gape of surprise

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

It seemed his mouth was always sort of hanging open in a stupid gape …

—Jill McCorkle

At first glance, the case seemed routine, and the suspects elicited no gapes [=open-mouthed looks] of surprise …

—Michael Powell and Nicholas Confessore

She 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 combination

gape-mouthed

He looked at his men, all of them staring gape-jawed at him …

—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

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)

the bird's maximum gape

—sometimes used in combination

Snakes are gape-limited predators, meaning they … can only dine on animals they can wrap their mouths around.

—University of Chicago Press Journals

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

b

: the width of an opening

… gyratory crushers having a gape suitable for the coarsest crushing …

—A. M. Gaudin

4

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

Synonyms of gape

• stare
• gaze
• eye

Examples of gape in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile, Chick 2, Luna, is smaller, has a straighter gape, and has been more aggressive. —Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 1 May 2026

Chick 1, which has been identified as being larger with a slight curve to its gape, is Sandy. —Chelsea Hylton, CBS News, 1 May 2026

Head there for a quieter gape at the astonishing mortar-free construction. —Helen Brown, TheWeek, 30 Apr. 2026

Doors gape, the family’s possessions are exposed to the weather, and humans are absent. —Ben Davis, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

derivative of gape entry 1

First Known Use

1535, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for gape

• ape
• cape
• crape
• crepe
• drape
• grape
• pape
• rape
• scape
• scrape
• shape
• snape

Kids Definition

gape

1 of 2 verb

ˈgāp 

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

3

: yawn entry 1 sense 2

gaper noun

gapingly

ˈgā-piŋ-lē 

adverb

gape

2 of 2 noun

1

: an act or instance of gaping

2

: an unfilled space