gap

An opening in anything made by breaking or parting.

Noun

  1. An opening in anything made by breaking or parting.
    • He made a gap in the fence by kicking at a weak spot.
  2. An opening allowing passage or entrance.
    • We can slip through that gap between the buildings.
  3. An opening that implies a breach or defect.
    • There is a gap between the roof and the gutter.
  4. A vacant space or time.
    • I have a gap in my schedule next Tuesday.
  5. A hiatus, a pause in something which is otherwise continuous.
    • I'm taking a gap.
    • You must wait for a gap in the traffic before crossing the road.
  6. A vacancy, deficit, absence, or lack.
    • Their departure has left a gap in the workforce.
    • Find words to fill the gaps in an incomplete sentence.
    • She has a gap in her teeth.
  7. A mountain or hill pass.
    • The exploring party went through the high gap in the mountains.
  8. 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.
  9. The regions between the outfielders.
    • Jones doubled through the gap.
  10. The shortfall between the amount the medical insurer will pay to the service provider and the scheduled fee for the item.
    • Under bulk billing the patient does not pay a gap, and the medical practitioner receives 85% of the scheduled fee. - 2008, Eileen Willis, Louise Reynolds, Helen Keleher, Understanding the Australian Health Care System,...
  11. The disparity between the indigenous and non-indigenous communities with regard to life expectancy, education, health, etc.
  12. An unsequenced region in a sequence alignment.

Origin

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.

Forms

gaps

Synonyms

break hole rip split tear rift chasm fissure clearing opening space window interim hiatus col neck pass

Hyponyms

air gap bomber gap credibility gap digital gap gender gap generation gap Hausdorff gap hungry gap missile gap orgasm gap pay gap prime gap spark gap Weierstrass gap

Derived

accidental gap age gap airgap anion gap annular gap junction bandgap Barnesmore Gap Barunga Gap bridge the gap Buffalo Gap Clements Gap coal gap content gap Cooks Gap Doctors Gap eigengap electron gap fermium gap fillgap find the gap find the gaps Fowlers Gap Gap-1 Gap-2

Noun alt of, alternative

  1. Alternative form of gup (“elected head of a gewog in Bhutan”).

Origin

From gup.

Forms

gaps

Verb Entry 3

  1. To notch, as a sword or knife.
  2. To make an opening in; to breach.
  3. 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.
  4. To surpass (someone or something) by a considerable margin.
    • Honestly K&C could release today with like a bit more SOT buffs and they'd probably still gap a lot of the game - 2022 May 4, u/jhawk1117, “Two units that were really ahead of their time”, in Reddit, r/DBZDokkanBattle,...
    • sometimes dril gets absolutely gapped by average ukraine war reddit comments - 2023 May 23, @slime_machine, Twitter, archived from the original on 18 Jul 2024:
    • Imagine street racing someone then suddenly both of you get gapped by a slammed tiger tank 😂 AKA der "Drippenwagen" - 2023 December 19, @kommanderkarl, Twitter, archived from the original on 18 Jul 2024:
  5. To leave suddenly.
    • [Article title:] 'They've just gapped it': Duo fled quarantine authorities after gang funeral - 2020 June 17, “'They've just gapped it': Duo fled quarantine authorities after gang funeral”, in Newstalk ZB, archived from...
  6. To fall or spill open so as to leave a gap.
    • The robe gaps open at the waist, breasts spilling out of a lacy bra that looks like she might have had it since her college days. - 2007 July [2006], Jeanne C. Stein, Blood Drive (Anna Strong; 2), →ISBN, page 60:

Forms

gaps gapping gapped

Verb US, dated

  1. To stare or gape.
    • Well, dey would all begin stretchin' and gappin', and den some of dem would say, with a gap and another stretch: […] - 1904, Chuck Connors, Bowery Life, New York, N.Y.: Richard K. Fox Publishing Company, unnumbered page:

Origin

A variant of gape.

Forms

gaps gapping gapped

Related

gap moe