gap
/ɡæp/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms gaps gapping gapped
- noun An opening in anything, made by breaking or parting. “He made a gap in the fence by kicking at a weak spot.”
- noun An opening allowing passage or entrance. “We can slip through that gap between the buildings.”
- noun An opening that implies a breach or defect. “There is a gap between the roof and the gutter.”
- noun A vacant space or time. “I have a gap in my schedule next Tuesday.”
- noun A hiatus, a pause in something which is otherwise continuous. “I'm taking a gap.”
- noun A vacancy, deficit, absence, or lack. “Their departure has left a gap in the workforce.”
- noun A mountain or hill pass. “The exploring party went through the high gap in the mountains.”
- noun (Sussex) A sheltered area of coast between two cliffs (mostly restricted to place names). “At Birling Gap we can stop and go have a picnic on the beach.”
- verb (transitive) To notch, as a sword or knife.
- verb (transitive) To make an opening in; to breach.
- verb (transitive) To check the size of a gap. “I gapped all the spark plugs in my car, but then realized I had used the wrong manual and had made them too small.”
- verb (transitive, intransitive, slang, especially video games, motor racing) To surpass (someone or something) by a considerable margin.
- verb (New Zealand, slang) To leave suddenly.
- verb (intransitive) To fall or spill open so as to leave a gap.
- verb (intransitive, transitive) Of an electric train, to be positioned, or to cause to be positioned, between electrical pickup points, causing loss of power. “The lights flickered as the train momentarily gapped.”
- verb (intransitive, transitive, US, slang, dated) To stare or gape.
- proper noun A town, the capital of the department of Hautes-Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.
Synonyms
break hole rip split tear rift chasm fissure space col neck pass axe wound bearded clam beaver berk bonne bouche box bun bush spread opening crack interruption disruption breach
Antonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English gap /gappe, from Old Norse gap (“an empty space, gap, chasm”), from gapa (“to gape, scream”), from Proto-Germanic *gapōną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- (“to open wide, gape”). Related to Danish gab (“an expanse, space, gap”), Old English ġeap (“open space, expanse”). Doublet of gape.
A variant of gape.
From gup.
Borrowed from French Gap.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An opening in anything made by breaking or parting; as, a gap in a fence; an opening for a passage or entrance; an opening which implies a breach or defect; a vacant space or time; a hiatus; a mountain pass.
- verb To notch, as a sword or knife.
- verb To make an opening in; to breach.
Etymology [OE. gap; cf. Icel. gap an empty space, Sw. gap mouth, breach, abyss, Dan. gab mouth, opening, AS. geap expanse; as adj., wide, spacious. See Gape.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “gap”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details