Pronunciation: /ɡeɪp/

Definitions of gape

noun an act of opening one's mouth wide and inhaling deeply due to surprise or wonder

Example Sentences

A1 The child's gape of wonder at the magician's tricks was adorable.

A2 The tourists stood in awe, their mouths open in a gape at the beauty of the Taj Mahal.

B1 The gape on her face showed her shock at the unexpected news.

B2 The audience sat in silence, their gapes of horror reflecting the intensity of the scene.

C1 The gape on his face slowly turned into a smile as he realized he had won the competition.

C2 Her gape of disbelief quickly turned into tears of joy as she accepted the award.

verb to open one's mouth wide and inhale deeply due to surprise or wonder

Example Sentences

A1 The child gaped in amazement at the magician's tricks.

A2 She gaped at the size of the mountain before her.

B1 The tourists gaped at the beauty of the ancient ruins.

B2 The audience gaped in awe at the acrobat's daring stunts.

C1 The scientist gaped in disbelief at the unexpected results of the experiment.

C2 The art connoisseur gaped at the masterpiece hanging in the gallery.

Examples of gape in a Sentence

formal The audience sat in silence, their mouths agape as the orchestra began to play.

informal I couldn't help but gape at the size of the burger on my plate.

slang She walked into the party and everyone's jaws just dropped, we were all gaping at her outfit.

figurative His mind was left gaping with disbelief at the news of his promotion.

Grammatical Forms of gape

past tense

gaped

plural

gapes

comparative

gaper

superlative

gapest

present tense

gape

future tense

will gape

perfect tense

have gaped

continuous tense

is gaping

singular

gape

positive degree

gape

infinitive

to gape

gerund

gaping

participle

gaping

Origin and Evolution of gape

First Known Use: 1250 year
Language of Origin: Old Norse
Story behind the word: The word 'gape' originated from the Old Norse word 'gapa' meaning to open the mouth wide.
Evolution of the word: Over time, the word 'gape' has evolved to not only refer to opening the mouth wide in surprise or wonder but also to describe a wide opening or gap in general.