Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Gape

Gape (?; in Eng, commonly ?; 277), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gaped; p. pr. & vb. n. Gaping] [OE. gapen, AS. geapan to open; akin to D. gapen to gape, G. gaffen, Icel. & Sw. gapa, Dan. gabe; cf. Skr. jabh to snap at, open the mouth. Cf. Gaby, Gap.] 1. To open the mouth wide; as: (a) Expressing a desire for food; as, young birds gape. Dryden.(b) Indicating sleepiness or indifference; to yawn.

She stretches, gapes, unglues her eyes, And asks if it be time to rise. Swift.

(c) Showing self-forgetfulness in surprise, astonishment, expectation, etc.

With gaping wonderment had stared aghast. Byron.

(d) Manifesting a desire to injure, devour, or overcome.

They have gaped upon me with their mouth. Job xvi. 10.

2. To pen or part widely; to exhibit a gap, fissure, or hiatus.

May that ground gape and swallow me alive! Shak.

3. To long, wait eagerly, or cry aloud for something; — with for, after, or at.

The hungry grave for her due tribute gapes. Denham.

Syn. — To gaze; stare; yawn. See Gaze.

Gape, n. 1. The act of gaping; a yawn. Addison.

2. (Zoöl.) The width of the mouth when opened, as of birds, fishes, etc.

The gapes. (a) A fit of yawning. (b) A disease of young poultry and other birds, attended with much gaping. It is caused by a parasitic nematode worm (Syngamus trachealis), in the windpipe, which obstructs the breathing. See Gapeworm.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.