: an act or instance of opening the mouth wide or of keeping the mouth open wide
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-mouthedHe looked at his men, all of them staring gape-jawed at him … David Abrams
… 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)
An eel, like most fishes, amphibians, and reptiles, is gape limited, meaning it can eat only what it can swallow … Gene S. Helfman
b
: the line along which the mandibles (see mandiblesense 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 tracheasense 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
Verb she suddenly realized she had been gaping at the good-looking waiter instead of giving him her order Noun I told him to stop staring, that his rather stupid gape was annoying.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
The sheer neck-craning nature of the blast, leaving fans and players alike to stare up and gape as the ball hurtled a fraction right of the foul pole, was something to marvel at. Andy Kostka, Baltimore Sun, 3 Sep. 2022 Perhaps the most popular way to explore the canyon is via a boat tour that meanders down the river, allowing visitors to gape up at the imposing rock walls. Meagan Drillinger, Travel + Leisure, 21 Feb. 2022 From many places along Interstate 5, where travelers can’t help but gape at the towering volcano, snow has been hard to see for weeks. Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Aug. 2021 But, in the meantime, Metsavainio’s 100,000-pixel-wide epic still offers plenty to gape at. Alex Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Mar. 2021 Summoning their inner thespians, possums keel over when cornered, allowing their mouths to gape open in apparent death. Doug Maccash | Staff Writer, NOLA.com, 23 Dec. 2020 His tough, often mean-spirited, sexist speech created a spectacle that Americans couldn’t help but gape at. Nicole Goodkind, Fortune, 7 Nov. 2020 When a young food runner fumbled over the ingredients in pastry chef Anne Blanchard’s refreshing dessert (crisp pink grapefruit sorbet, buttery strawberry sablé, lime cream), the senior server standing behind him didn’t swoop in or gape in horror. Adam Erace, Fortune, 8 Mar. 2020 The Grand Canyon this is not — but the cracks were sizable enough to make visitors gape. Giulia Mcdonnell Nieto Del Rio, latimes.com, 9 July 2019
Noun
Patagonia’s nylon-spandex bikini top ($55) has a generous band under the bust that prevents gape, and the halter fit and adjustable ties hold everything in place. Amy Jurries, Outside Online, 14 May 2015 Memory foam cups give your boobs a natural lift and help prevent gape for optimal comfort. Susan Brickell, Health.com, 14 Oct. 2021 Rangers estimate that up to 800 people gape at the park’s storied red rock during peak spring and fall weekends, with 400 to 600 of those being rim-to-rim runners and hikers hauling up and down 4,000-foot drops and climbs. Hannah Weinberger, Outside Online, 15 Sep. 2021 The gape face is often accompanied by nausea and a desire to run away or otherwise gain distance from the offensive thing, as well as the urge to clean oneself.New York Times, 27 Dec. 2021 Return to street to gape at what looks like a massive erupting volcano spewing impossibly wide plume of orange-brown-gray smoke into the sky where the towers used to stand. Damon Linker, The Week, 11 Sep. 2017 Witherspoon sustained significant injuries herself including a gape in her head and a cut in her hand that required surgery.ABC News, 11 Nov. 2021 On Friday, customers at the Ocean Avenue Walgreens stopped to gape at a sign in the front window. Rachel Swan, Danielle Echevarria, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Oct. 2021 But that vision belongs in the realm of rapturous poetry, not for us film lovers to gape in awestruck amazement at the foolishness.Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2021 See More
Word History
Etymology
Verb
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
ADVERB | PREPOSITION | PHRASESADVERB➤openly目瞪口呆地公然凝視◇Stephanie gaped openly at the visitors.斯蒂芬妮張着嘴傻瞪着來訪者。➤slightly稍微張開◇Her mouth gaped slightly.她的嘴微微張開。PREPOSITION➤at目瞪口呆地凝視◇What are you gaping at?你張着嘴傻瞪什麼?PHRASES➤gape open張開;敞開◇She watched him, her mouth gaping open.她望着他,嘴張得大大的。◇The empty cash box lay gaping open in one corner. (figurative) 空空的錢匣子敞着蓋待在一角。