Gape

Gape is a verb that means to open the mouth wide, or to part something so that a wide opening is created. It can describe a person yawning, a creature’s jaws widening, or any object that opens to a large extent. As a noun, gape refers to an opening or gap, such as the mouth of a cave, a crevice in rock, or the mouth opening of an animal.

In zoology and anatomy, the gape is the distance or angle between the upper and lower jaws. The size and shape of a gape can be relevant to feeding mechanics, prey capture, and taxonomic descriptions in some species of fish and birds.

The word dates from Old English and is related to the broader sense of an opening or gap; it is cognate with words in other Germanic languages that carry similar meanings. In figurative use, to gape means to stare with the mouth open, typically out of surprise or awe, as in “the crowd gaped at the spectacle.” The adjective gaping describes something that is wide-open or conspicuously open, such as a gaping hole or chasm.

See also: gap, yawning, mouth.