to gasp
155
1.6
- verb
- /ɡæsp/
:
jadear
- But our fishermen fooled them, took the southern route, against the wind and left them there, like stranded fish gasping on the rocks.
- gasp for breath
- gasp for air
- students gasp
I wake up gasping for air at night.
- I wake up gasping for air at night.
- He could not speak, he could only gasp and make mouth noises.
- There are some that gasp and dive for lack of oxygen.
- Already chubby and quivering with wetness, she gasps for air and for her mother's warm body.
- You cannot, cannot engineer the audience to gasp.
- Their breathing slows down, it's will stop and then they'll gasp.
- His mom gasped and was like, Jared and I said, it's fine.
- Like I audibly gasped at that turn from it just was everything.
Examples
-
Joshua stumbled to his feet, still gasping from the pain in his chest.
Fiction book (1990) -
Did it make me gasp when I first saw it?
Academic text (2011) -
The air is drawn out of their lungs, and they gasp for breath.
Fiction book (1990) -
I wake up gasping for air at night.
-
"I needed that," he managed to gasp when he had taken a mouthful.
Fiction book (1990) -
Each year, the students gasped when I shared that information.
Academic text (2014) -
Jonathan lay on the floor, alone and gasping for life.
-
As I neared the bottom, I was gasping from the wet, ammonia-filled air.
Academic text (2010) -
"Where the hell are we?" Emil gasped, swinging his legs from the pallet.
Fiction book (1990) -
She gasped in shock when she saw the surprise party waiting for her.
Synonyms
2
6.2
To take air into your lungs quickly when you feel surprised, afraid, or before hard work
1
3.2
To suddenly breathe in sharply because you are surprised, shocked, or in pain
Antonyms
Phrasal Verbs
1
3.2
To suddenly breathe in sharply because you are surprised, shocked, or in pain
Compounds
1
8.1
The final moment before something stops, often the last breath a person takes at the end of life
- Informal
A last weak attempt to believe things will get better before giving up
How Sudden
Surface Forms
Etymology
Gasp probably copies the sudden sound you make when your mouth opens in shock and is like the word gape, so to gasp is to breathe in quickly and loudly because of surprise, pain, or tiredness.