as in wide
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as in staring
to look long and hard in wonder or surprise
she suddenly realized she had been gaping at the good-looking waiter instead of giving him her order
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of gaping
David Pogue, CBS News, 30 June 2024
While fentanyl can easily cause a deadly overdose, the addition of xylazine further slows breathing and can result in painful, gaping and disfiguring wounds on the user's body.
—Erika Edwards, NBC News, 11 July 2023
Ethan Baron, Mercury News, 31 Dec. 2025
Major repairs, like reconstructing a gaping hole, can cost as much as an F257 Sutton—the company’s $113-ish compact wallet.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 11 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gaping
Adjective
And that is just a gaping fundamental hole with the entire structure.
—David Pogue, CBS News, 30 June 2024
While fentanyl can easily cause a deadly overdose, the addition of xylazine further slows breathing and can result in painful, gaping and disfiguring wounds on the user's body.
—Erika Edwards, NBC News, 11 July 2023
Verb
Now, with back-to-back rainstorms bearing down on the Bay Area, officials this week are racing to seal the gaping hole and protect the historic Great Lick Refractor telescope beneath it.
—Ethan Baron, Mercury News, 31 Dec. 2025
Major repairs, like reconstructing a gaping hole, can cost as much as an F257 Sutton—the company’s $113-ish compact wallet.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 11 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gaping
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gaping
Adjective
-
Amid efforts to increase department-wide diversity, KCKPD is still largely staffed by officers who are men or who are white in Kansas’ most diverse city and county.—
Sofi Zeman
January 13,
Kansas City Star,
13 Jan. 2026
-
After breaking them in, my wide, flat feet remained pain-free and felt swaddled in comfort the entire time.—
Rylee Johnston,
PEOPLE,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Below-average play is often staring you right in the face while catastrophe lurks around the corner.—
Matt Schneidman,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
-
The face in question, below, involves Sherman staring with her mouth agape.—
Lauren Huff,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
As such, anticipated spending cuts have not materialized and British Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announced tax hikes in her next Autumn Budget to fill a yawning fiscal hole that could be as much as £50 billion ($67.2 billion), although estimates vary.—
Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Yet the shooting also divided the American public in ways that many found disturbing, including a yawning lack of empathy for the victim and even cheering for the shooter.—
Patrik Jonsson,
The Christian Science Monitor,
10 Dec. 2024
Verb
-
Here, astronomers are gawking at a radio signal that appears crudely on the screen like a crooked game of Pong but turns out to be a line of data repeated every 78 seconds from 600 light-years away.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
7 Nov. 2025
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But the cringe-comedy antics of the original NBC series landed far better in Season 3 than in Season 1, once audiences began to truly love the characters instead of just gawking at them.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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During that intrusion, the attacker discovered an exposed API that could be used to access customer information linked to 700Credit's dealership clients.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
29 Dec. 2025
-
America is entering 2026 with a health system that is more politically exposed, more unequal, and more unstable than at any time in recent memory.—
Uché Blackstock,
Time,
23 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
If star-gazing and vintage glamping sound dreamy, head to Camp Kettlewood.—
Sarah Miller,
Midwest Living,
13 Jan. 2026
-
By day, visitors can hike, cycle, and view ancient petroglyphs left behind by the area's Indigenous Northern Paiute people, before spending the night gazing up at the twinkling canopy.—
Elizabeth Rhodes,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gaping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gaping. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
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