▪ I. gape, n.
(geɪp)
Also 6 Sc. gaip, 8 gap(s).
[f. gape v.]
1. The act of opening the mouth; a yawn.
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 466 The fox..with mony girne and gaip..makis debait als lang as that he ma. 1745 R. Graves Euphrosyne (1776) I. 70 Now a gen'ral gape goes round, And vapours cloud each sleepy head. 1806–7 J. Beresford Mis. Hum. Life (1826) vii. xviii, Balking a good gape, by forcing your lips close together. |
2. a. An open-mouthed stare; a gaze of wonder or curiosity.
| 1660 Fisher Rusticks Alarm Wks. (1679) 306 Thou hast hung thy Reader up in the Air, and there left him among Gapes and Stares. 1768 Woman of Honor ii. 83 Paintings, statues, monuments..that so vulgarly satisfy the silly superficial gape of travelling sight-mongers. 1863 Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. v. 118 A sea-port town—the inhabitants of which appear to have more leisure for gape and gossip than any others. 1870 Daily News 4 Oct., Numerous English tourists, bound for a gape at the battle-field of Sedan. |
b. fig. A state of eagerness or wonder: also in phrase upon the gape. ? Obs.
| 1712 Addison Spect. No. 452 ¶3 The Mind is not here kept in a perpetual Gape after Knowledge. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 24. 158 The chief skill is to keep them still upon the Gape. 1792 A. Young Trav. France (1794) I. 8, I have been upon the full silly gape to find out things that I had not found before. |
3. the gapes: a. A disease in poultry, etc., of which frequent gaping is the symptom.
| 1799 Med. Jrnl. II. 204 There is a disease prevalent among the gallinaceous poultry in this country, called the gaps. 1864 Intell. Observ. No. 33. 197 Every keeper of poultry is acquainted with the ‘gapes’. 1886 Ld. Walsingham & Payne-Gallwey Shooting I. 158 The most destructive disease prevalent among partridges is that which is commonly known by the name of the ‘gapes’. |
b. humorously. A fit of yawning or staring.
| c 1815 Jane Austen Persuasion xx, Another hour of music was to give delight or the gapes, as real or affected taste for it prevailed. 1840 Haliburton Clockm. Ser. iii. iii, What gave me the gapes was the scenes [at the theatre]. |
4. a. The expanse of an open mouth or beak.
| 1766 Pennant Zool. (1768) II. 246 The gape of the bill, when opened, is near two inches from tip to tip. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 214 The narwhal, however, has a much narrower gape than the great whale. 1829 Glover Hist. Derby I. 169 Pike..The gape of the jaw is wide. 1864 R. F. Burton Dahome I. 38 He opens his gape like a fledgling to its parent. 1884 Pall Mall G. 18 Sept. 12/1 Hawks..remarkable for the size of their gape and the shortness of their beaks. |
b. The part of the beak which can be opened; the line of commissure of the mandibles.
| 1833 R. Mudie Feath. Tribes Brit. Isles (1841) I. 28 From the gape of the bill to the eyes a black streak extends. 1883 Martin & Moole Verteb. Diss. 93 Each so-called mandible is hard and horny at its tip, but becomes softer near the angle of the gape. 1886 W. W. Fowler Year w. the Birds 83 The gape of the mouth furnished with strong hairs. |
c. (See quot. 1848.)
| 1848 Craig, Gape, in Conchology, an opening in multivalves and bivalves when the valves are shut. 1875 Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. xi. 104 At the edges of this ‘gape’ of the shell [of the fresh water mussel] the thickened margins of a part of the..mantle become visible. Ibid. 105. |
5. a. A rent or opening of any kind.
| 1658 A. Fox Wurtz' Surg. i. iii. 7 Thereby the wound comes to its old gape and shape. 1853 G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. I. 251 This hurries along as the gape deepens, and becomes, at every step, more declivous. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 22 Apr. 3/2 She breaks off her thread with an energetic pull, and thus overstraining her last stitch causes in time an unseemly gape in that seam. |
b. Naut. The principal crevice or crack in shaken timber.
| 1867 in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. |
6. Comb.: gape-worm, the worm that causes the gapes (see 3 a).
| 1873 L. Wright Bk. Poultry 196 The egg of the gape-worm. 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 217/3 Gape Worm Extractor..quickly removes, without injury to the chick, the worms..from the windpipe. 1935 Discovery Sept. 266 Syngamus trachea, the Gape Worm of poultry and other birds. |
▪ II. gape, v.
(geɪp)
Forms: 3–4 gapen, 5 gapyn, 6 Sc. gaip, 9 dial. ge(e)ap, 5– gape. Also 3 (once) pa. tense geapede.
[a. ON. gapa to open the mouth, gape, Sw. gapa, Da. gabe = MDu. and mod.Du. gapen, MLG. gapen, MHG. and G. gaffen to gape, stare. The word is not found in Gothic, and its further relations are uncertain; Skr. jabh-, Zend. jab- to yawn, gape, have been compared. In Eng. dialects there is some confusion with galp v.
An OE. *gapian may have existed (cf. early ME. geapede in quot. a 1225, which may represent a Mercian form with o- umlaut), but is not recorded; in the gloss ‘Pando, ᵹeape’ (Wr.-Wülcker 471/14), which is given in some Dicts. as an example of this verb, pando is abl. of pandus adj. In three passages of Chaucer (Miller's T. 258, 655; Troil. v. 1133) three of the best MSS. give cape instead of gape. This is prob. to be referred to LG. kapen, MHG. kapfen, kaffen, OHG. kapfên to keep watch or outlook, a word not related to G. gaffen, but early confused with it.]
1. intr. To open the mouth wide, esp. in order to bite or swallow anything. Said also of the mouth.
| c 1220 Bestiary 506 Ðis fis..ðanne him hungreð he gapeð wide. a 1225 St. Marher. 9 He..ȝeonede [MS. Bodl. geapede, misprinted ȝeapede] mid his wide geneow uppon hire. 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 2763 Ȝenande & gapande on him so, Ase he wolde him swolwe þo. c 1350 Will. Palerne 2372 Þe werwolf..as a wod best went hem a-ȝens, Gapand ful grimli. 14.. Tundale's Vis. 149 Her mowthes wer wyde, þai gapud fast. 1530 Palsgr. 560/2, I gape, as a beest dothe that entendeth to byte, whiche holdeth his mouthe open afore. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 294/1 Such Fellows..are fed with Roasted Pigs and good Ale as long as they can gape. 1710 Steele & Addison Tatler No. 257 ¶11 Opening their Mouths as wide as they could gape. 1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. My First Play, Heads that gape, and grin, in stone around the inside of the old Round Church of the Templars. |
Proverbial phrases.
| 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 17 He that gapeth till he be fed, Maie fortune to fast and famishe for honger. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. (1807–8) II. 389 A man ought not to chide with a foole, nor gape over an oven. 1709 Brit. Apollo II. No. 62. 2/2 She will gape like a Pig on a Spit. |
b. transf. of earth, hell, etc.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Egipciane 541 Þar-for me wonderis..þat þe erd gapand wyd, me swelyt nocht. c 1460 Towneley Myst. vii. 205 Then shall hell gape and gryn. 1535 Coverdale Isa. v. 14 Therfore gapeth hel, and openeth hyr mouth marvelous wyde. 1693 Dryden Ovid's Met. i. 739 Gape, Earth, and this unhappy wretch intomb. 1705 Berkeley Cave of Dunmore Wks. 1871 IV. 507 This..water runs but a little way ere the rock gapes to swallow it. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxx. 6 A gulf that ever shuts and gapes. |
c. Of a bivalve: To open the shell.
| 1577 J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 61 The crab presently putteth a little stone into the oyster as he gapeth. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 293 ¶9 An Oyster, which lay in the Neighbourhood of this Drop, chanced to gape and swallow it up. |
d. Used jocularly for ‘to open’.
| 1607 Middleton Michaelmas Term i. i, He was here three days before the Exchequer gaped. |
e. trans. To open (the mouth) wide. † to gape out: to emit with open mouth. rare.
| 1608 R. Armin Nest Ninn. (1842) 32 So shee, forgetting modesty, gapte out a laughter. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 204 Beyond these were two indented jaws DD, which he opened side-wayes, and was able to gape them asunder very wide. 1892 H. Hutchinson Fairway Isl. 11 A man's head gaped its mouth to ask..what young Quarrell wanted there. |
2. intr. Of material objects, wounds, etc.: To open as a mouth; to split, crack, part asunder.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) ii. 87 After the tenth of June, when the ground gapes with the heate of the Sunne. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 593 The Tyburtine stones..if the heat of summer take them, they will gape and be ready to cleaue in sunder. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 398/1 A Stitching Quill..is an instrument by means whereof a wound that gapeth is drawn together, or stitched up. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxii, Think'st thou..that..the wounds of the slaughtered corpse will gape? 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., The seams gape, or let in water. 1882 Vines tr. Sachs' Bot. 799 If this portion [of the root] is split, the parts generally gape concavely outwards. |
3. to gape on or gape upon, now more commonly to gape at: to stare at with open mouth, to gaze upon in curiosity or wonder.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 108/66 On hire gapede alday swyþe muche folc þere..for hire continaunce was wonderful. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) p. xliv, Upon the sewer well mayst thou gase and gape. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 67 What is it to make folkes gape at a wretched Begger, or a beggerly Clowne? 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. vi. iii. (1651) 299 The dog and hare, wolf and lamb..stood all gaping upon Orpheus. 1755 Smollett Quix. (1803) II. 6 Like a country villager gaping at rarities which he had never seen before. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 451 Levaine gaped upon him As on a thing miraculous. 1885 Manch. Exam. 12 May 5/3 The larger the town the more ready are people to gape at new sights. |
b. absol. To stare in wonder or admiration.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 41 Tho that feynen hem folis..And do men for to gape. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 287 This Nicholas sat ay as stille as ston, And ever he gaped upward into the eire. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 156 And whan y cam to þat court y gaped aboute. 1530 Palsgr. 560/2, I gape..I loke stedfastly upon a thyng. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. i. 181 Man..was not meant to gape or looke upward with the eye. ? a 1700 Song in Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 88 There's braw lads in Earnslaw..Wha gape and glowr with their eye, At kirk when they see my Marion. 1751 E. Carter Rambler No. 100 ¶2 They may not gape, and wonder, and stare. 1830 Cunningham Brit. Paint. II. 195 When the wonder of the town began to abate, the country came gaping in. |
4. to gape after or gape for (also † gape at, † gape upon): to be eager to obtain, to have a longing for (something).
| c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. (1866) 41 As if þou ware abydande or gapand after sum qwent stirringe. a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1408 Fulle many men knowe I that yane and gape After some fatte and riche benefice. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xx. (1885) 156 Importune suters wil gape vpon suche reuersiouns. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) C ij b, It is no newe thyng that men gape for hygh and frayle thynges. 1600 Holland Livy xxx. xl. (1609) 768 He gaped at [L. petens] the honour of finishing the same [war]. 1638 F. Junius Paint. Ancients 190 The basenesse of a minde that gapeth for nothing but money. 1672 Marvell Corr. cc. Wks. 1872–5 II. 397 The greedy appetites of those who have been so many years gaping after this profit. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 3 ¶7 Multitudes..who awake in the morning, vacant of thought, with minds gaping for the intellectual food, which some kind Essayist has been accustomed to supply. 1827–48 Hare Guesses Ser. ii. (1873) 540 It is not solely in the Gospel that people go out into the desert to gape after new spiritual incarnations. |
b. with inf.: to desire eagerly to do (something).
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xiii. 5 Glottery, þat..is ay gapand to take. c 1440 Jacob's Well (E.E.T.S.) 290 Whan oure lady com to þis munke..he gapid for to haue of here lycoure. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. ii. 98 If they finde the spring hed of the euell within themselues, why gape they to finde out foreine causes. 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. 222 Some others who gape to swallow up and make a prey of that little which remaineth. a 1748 Pitt Ep. to Spence 22 Studying his looks, and watching at the board, He gapes to catch the droppings of my lord. 1815 Sporting Mag. XLVI. 122 Lincolnshire friends..are gaping with mouths wide open to have their curiosity satisfied. |
† c. absol.; also trans. = gape after. Obs.
| 1552 Latimer Fruitf. Serm. (1575) 124, I pray God geue vnto us such hartes, that we may be content to liue in our calling, and not to gape farther. 1557 Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 258 For whiles you knew I was your own, So long in vaine you made me gape. 1588 T. L. To Ch. Rome (1651) 13 Your..brethren, which walke..gaping the comming of a second Messias. |
† 5. To gasp from pain, heat, etc. Also, of the dead, to have the mouth open. Obs.
| 1352 Minot Poems vii. 135 Was þou noght, Franceis, with þi wapin Bitwixen Cressy and Abuyle? Whare þi felaws lien and gapin. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xlviii. (1495) 809 They byshadow themself with the fote whan they lye gapyng on the grounde in stronge hete of the sonne. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1076 He gapede, he groned faste, with grucchande latez, ffor grefe of þe gude kyng. c 1500 Lancelot 1090 One to the hart the spere goith throw the scheld, The knychtis gaping lyith in the feld. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 185 Richt scharpe schutting on ilk syde mycht be sene, Quhen mony grume la gaippand on the grene. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 260 The Gray Freiris gapped, the Blak Frearis blew, the Preastis panted, and fled. |
6. To yawn, esp. from weariness.
Now rare in southern Eng. and in literature; common colloq. in midland and northern districts.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 186/1 Gapyn, hio, oscito. 1530 Palsgr. 560/1 There is never no man that gapeth but other he is wery or he lacketh somwhat. 1619 R. Weste Bk. Demeanor 77 in Babees Bk. 293 To gape in such unseemely sort, with ugly gaping mouth, Is like an image pictured a blowing from the south. 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal 186 He, at the sight of supper, wont to fall A yawning, gapes and gapes, and that is all. 1707 Reflex. upon Ridicule 134 He gapes in the Theatre. 1729 Swift Lady's Jrnl. 42 She stretches, gapes, unglues her eyes, And asks if it be time to rise. |
b. to gape away: to pass (the time) in yawning.
| 1883 Harper's Mag. Apr. 699/2 We scarcely saw a soul except a few..loafers gaping away the weary hours. |
7. To bawl or shout. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 356 He gapeth and cryeth out vppon Oecolampadius. 1608 Middleton Fam. Love i. ii, Peace, good Gudgeon, gape not so loud. 1687 Miege Fr. Dict. 11, He ever gapes, when he speaks, il crie toujours, quand il parle. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Geeap, to gape. Also to bawl or talk loudly. |
8. The vb.-stem in Comb., as gape-jaw; also gape-eyed a. (see quot.); gape-gaze v. intr. dial., to gaze with open mouth, or with eagerness; gape-scene, ? nonce-wd. (see quot.).
| 1855 F. Chamier My Travels II. x. 164 There is not a window which has not one of these gape-scenes [Balconies]. 1863 Mrs. Gaskell Sylvia's L. (ed. 2) I. 249 T' most part o' girls as has looks like hers are always gape-gazing to catch other folks' eyes. 1876 Browning Shop 7 What gimcracks, genuine Japanese; Gape-jaw and goggle-eye, the frog. 1889 Century Dict., Gape-eyed, in herpet[ology], naked-eyed; having apparently no eyelids: as, the gape-eyed skinks. |