gap

1 an open space in a barrier (as a wall or hedge) there were several visible gaps in the wall where the drywall had pulled away from the wall framing Synonyms breach, break, discontinuity, gulf, hiatus, hole, interstice, interval, opening, rent, rift, separation, void Related Words chink, cleft, crack, cranny, crevice, fissure; notch, slit, slot, split; interspace, pore; abyss, aperture, cavity, chasm, gape, orifice; fracture, rupture, severance, sundering

2 a break in continuity there was a 15-minute gap between the two televised sporting events Synonyms discontinuity, hiatus, hiccup (also hiccough), interim, interlude, intermission, interregnum, interruption, interstice, interval, parenthesis Related Words caesura, comma, interspace, lag, pause, space, time lag, window; entr'acte; bumper; adjournment, discontinuance, lapse, suspension; lull, recess, respite, rest; subinterval Near Antonyms continuum, run, stretch; procession, progression Antonyms continuation, continuity

3 an incomplete or deficient area a gap in his understanding Synonyms hiatus, hole, lacuna, space, void Related Words defectiveness, detriment, disability, failing, fault, impairment, weakness; deficiency, deficit, imperfection, inadequacy, inadequateness, incompleteness, insufficience, insufficiency, lack, need, shortcoming, shortfall, want Near Antonyms completeness, fullness

4 a narrow opening between hillsides or mountains that can be used for passage thought they were stuck until they found a gap in the mountain range that they could hike through Synonyms col, couloir, defile, flume, canyon, gill [British], gorge, gulch, gulf, kloof [South African], linn [chiefly Scottish], notch, pass, ravine, saddleRelated Words abyss, chasm, cirque, cleft, crevasse, crevice, cwm [chiefly British], fissure; combe (also coombe or coomb) [British], dale, dell, glen, hollow, shut-in, vale, valley; basin, floodplain, kettle; arroyo, barranca (also barranco), coulee, draw, gully (also gulley), gutter, nullah, trench, trough, wadi, wash [West]