gape
pronunciation
How to pronounce gape in British English:
UK [geɪp]
How to pronounce gape in American English:
US [ɡep, ɡæp]
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- Noun:
- an expression of open-mouthed astonishment
- a stare of amazement (usually with the mouth open)
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- Verb:
- look with amazement; look stupidly
- be wide open
Word Origin
- gape
- gape: [13] Gape and the related gap [14] are of Scandinavian origin. English borrowed the verb from Old Norse gapa ‘open the mouth’, which survives in modern Scandinavian languages as Swedish gapa and Danish gabe. Old Norse gap ‘chasm’ (source of Swedish gap ‘mouth’ and Danish gab ‘opening, open mouth’) was originally taken over by English in the specific sense ‘hole in a wall or hedge’; the broader modern range of meanings began to emerge in the 16th century.=> gap, yawn
- gape (v.)
- early 13c., from an unrecorded Old English word or else from Old Norse gapa "to open the mouth wide, gape" (see gap (n.)). Related: Gaped; gaping. As a noun, "act of opening the mouth," from 1530s.
Example
- 1. Malfoys don t just gape at people .
- 2. You don 't just have to sit in the stands and gape at the exploits of others .
- 3. Somehow it explained nigel , jane thought : his angular unease and his gape , as if he were blinking in reflected light .
- 4. If you have labial crack , have leather appearance , fear even the word of gape , be about to look downward well .
- 5. Of the caves of guilin , the reed flute cave is one of the most fascinating haunts . Illumined by multi-coloured lights , the cave looks like a bejewelled world whose brilliant display of colour and light makes one gape .