as in panting
to breathe hard, quickly, or with difficulty
the runner was audibly gasping by the end of the marathon
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Recent Examples of gasping
Cut taxes and/or cut state payroll, or wait until the next report finds yet more residents leaving the state, taking their revenue with them, and a state budget gasping for air.
—
Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 26 May 2026
Within minutes, revellers were gasping for breath; their nostrils quivered, their lips turned blue.
—Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 23 May 2026
Common signs include loud snoring, waking up gasping, morning headaches and daytime sleepiness that doesn’t improve with more hours in bed.
—Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 18 May 2026
But shortly before the screen cuts to black one last time, the lovers can be seen and heard gasping for breath, suggesting that Claire has used her special healing abilities to save Jamie.
—Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026
Collapsed in it, more like, gasping for breath.
—Stephen King, The Atlantic, 15 May 2026
Symptoms of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, resemble a cold, with a cough that usually worsens over weeks and can cause gasping, vomiting and difficulty breathing, the Pasadena Public Health Department said in a statement announcing the outbreak.
—Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
Using the wrong soil Garden soil scooped from the yard and packed into containers tends to compact quickly, leaving roots gasping.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Apr. 2026
Within a few weeks of starting the treatments, O’Neal was walking without gasping and talking without pausing to gobble air.
—Courtney Crowder, USA Today, 18 Apr. 2026
Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 26 May 2026
Within minutes, revellers were gasping for breath; their nostrils quivered, their lips turned blue.
—Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 23 May 2026
Common signs include loud snoring, waking up gasping, morning headaches and daytime sleepiness that doesn’t improve with more hours in bed.
—Allison Palmer, Sacbee.com, 18 May 2026
But shortly before the screen cuts to black one last time, the lovers can be seen and heard gasping for breath, suggesting that Claire has used her special healing abilities to save Jamie.
—Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026
Collapsed in it, more like, gasping for breath.
—Stephen King, The Atlantic, 15 May 2026
Symptoms of pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, resemble a cold, with a cough that usually worsens over weeks and can cause gasping, vomiting and difficulty breathing, the Pasadena Public Health Department said in a statement announcing the outbreak.
—Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
Using the wrong soil Garden soil scooped from the yard and packed into containers tends to compact quickly, leaving roots gasping.
—Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Apr. 2026
Within a few weeks of starting the treatments, O’Neal was walking without gasping and talking without pausing to gobble air.
—Courtney Crowder, USA Today, 18 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gasping
panting
Verb
-
Signs include panting, a hoarse bark, scuffing or dragging their toes along the ground, and sometimes regurgitation or swallowing problems.—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 May 2026
-
Peter waltzes through an indistinguishable parade of such parties, high as a kite on some drug or another, at one point getting pulled into a panting threesome with another guy and handsy British tourist Leonora (Paris Petitjean).—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
16 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gasping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gasping. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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