gape 1 of 2

gape

2 of 2

verb

as in to stare
to look long and hard in wonder or surprise she suddenly realized she had been gaping at the good-looking waiter instead of giving him her order

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of gape
Noun
Elsewhere, shadow gapes invite light to flow through the property (another reference to the island’s volcanic origins). Christopher Cameron, Robb Report, 27 Jan. 2025 Jayne and their team also realized additional implications after studying and extrapolating the scalability ratio between their mouth gapes and cranial structures. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 24 Oct. 2024
Verb
Mayor Mike Johnston, as always, has an aggressive plan to give Denver a boost even as federal funding and state funding recede and the city begins massive layoffs to plug a gaping hole in the budget. The Denver Post Editorial Board, Denver Post, 8 Aug. 2025 As blood gushed from a gaping gash on his leg, a fitness trainer and social media influencer found dead in his Harlem apartment was desperately calling his father to relay what was happening — even texting him a picture of what was likely the fatal knife wound. Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 4 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for gape
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gape
Noun
  • The deep fields were Hubble's most intense stares into the universe, revealing the faintest galaxies at the highest redshifts that Hubble could see, galaxies that existed over 13 billion years ago and whose light has been traveling for all that time.
    Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 Aug. 2025
  • Most of the viral skits portray the stare in customer service interactions, where a Gen Z cashier or customer responds with a blank, wordless stare where small talk would usually fill the void, sometimes as a result of a senseless questions.
    Rachel Hale, USA Today, 16 July 2025
Verb
  • For one, Tyler might see his own celebrity as akin to a fish — they’re similarly gawked at by strangers.
    Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 21 July 2025
  • And Fanatics will bring back the 40/40 Club, a temporary pop-up of Jay-Z’s infamous New York City hotspot, constructed inside the Javits Center, exclusively for the biggest stars and highest rollers … though fans are free to gawk from a distance.
    Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 13 June 2025
Noun
  • In Competition Tender Claws’ Face Jumping, uses eye-tracking on the Meta Quest Pro to let participants swap perspectives with what looked like ghosts, by locking gazes with them.
    Charlie Fink, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025
  • Others are slamming the campaign for catering to the male gaze and taking inspiration from Brooke Shields' controversial 1980 denim campaign.
    Catherine Santino, People.com, 7 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • With this warmer water, however, keep an eye on clarity.
    Anthony A. Ciuffa, Outdoor Life, 7 Aug. 2025
  • Keep an eye out for chachalaca, green jays, Altamira orioles, and the occasional rare avian visitor that wanders in from faraway.
    Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 7 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Gape.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gape. Accessed 23 Aug. 2025.

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