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Glite Dictionary
🕳️ To open wide 😮 To stare amazed 😮 Amazed stare
to gape

to gape

28 3.8
To become wide open so it is easy to see
  • verb
  • /ɡeɪp/
translation icon : abrirse
  • As the magician revealed his final trick, the audience began to gape in amazement.
  • a gaping hole
  • a gaping wound
  • a gaping mouth

Examples

  • The children stood in the doorway, gaping as they watched the fireworks display.

  • His departure had left a gaping hole in the emotional lives of Cheryl, Theresa and Mary Ann.

    Little Children (2006)

  • So just don't sit there gaping, get to work.

    Paint Your Wagon (1969)

  • Don't just stand there gaping at me.

    The Raven (1963)

  • When the gigantic dinosaur skeleton was unveiled, visitors could only gape at its sheer size.

Synonyms

to yawn
vsto gape
8 5.7

To be wide open and show a large empty space

is more likely to suggest the opening is noticeable or surprising

Antonyms

to close
∞ 1.0

To shut something so it is not open

to seal
457 2.5

To close something tightly to stop air or water getting in

How Wide

to gape
28 3.8
to open
∞ 1.0
to part
241 2.9

Surface Forms

gape infinitive
gaped past
gaped past participle
gaping present participle
gapes third person singular

Etymology

Gape originally meant 'open the mouth' and is related to the word gap, which means 'an opening'. So when something 'gapes' it becomes wide open and obvious, like a hole in a roof or a door left open.