gapes
Americannoun
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Veterinary Pathology. a parasitic disease of poultry and other birds, characterized by frequent gaping due to infestation of the trachea and bronchi with gapeworms.
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a fit of yawning.
noun
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a disease of young domestic fowl, characterized by gaping or gasping for breath and caused by parasitic worms ( gapeworms )
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informal a fit of yawning
Other Word Forms
- gapy adjective
Etymology
Origin of gapes
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The crater gapes at about 13 miles wide and 2.6 miles deep.
From Scientific American • Sep. 21, 2023
The line of the river now gapes like an open wound, perhaps a hundred metres across in places.
From BBC • Sep. 16, 2023
“Today, a deep rift gapes between Russia and Europe where, according to Gorbachev’s vision, a common European house was supposed to arise with Russia and with a common security architecture,” she added.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 7, 2022
When pipes experience a catastrophic failure, the breach typically is much bigger, what’s referred to in the industry as a "fish mouth" rupture because it gapes wide like the mouth of a fish, he said.
From Fox News • Oct. 8, 2021
The bed’s stripped to the mattress, the closet gapes open, showing the emptiness inside, but I’d know this room anywhere.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
