as in wide
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as in staring
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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of gaping
Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 May 2025
If the absence of Succession has left a dark and gaping hole in your heart, formerly filled by the epic, desperate machinations of the one-percent: tune in.
—Vogue, 19 July 2024
Sara Belcher, PEOPLE, 22 Apr. 2026
The closure also comes as dozens of schools across the Bay Area have announced layoffs, budget cuts or school closures this year in an effort to repair gaping budget deficits ranging from $6 million to over $100 million.
—Jason Green, Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for gaping
Adjective
Given that there is no witness to what happened, that leaves a very gaping hole in this investigation.
—Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 May 2025
If the absence of Succession has left a dark and gaping hole in your heart, formerly filled by the epic, desperate machinations of the one-percent: tune in.
—Vogue, 19 July 2024
Verb
With a gaping leg wound and an infection creeping in, Peeta paints himself to camouflage into the stream's bed of rocks, where Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) ultimately finds him.
—Sara Belcher, PEOPLE, 22 Apr. 2026
The closure also comes as dozens of schools across the Bay Area have announced layoffs, budget cuts or school closures this year in an effort to repair gaping budget deficits ranging from $6 million to over $100 million.
—Jason Green, Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for gaping
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gaping
Adjective
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Unveiled in early April, Mythos is purportedly able to detect and exploit vulnerabilities in a wide range of critical software.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
30 Apr. 2026
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The 23 Best Restaurants in Portland, Oregon This city may specialize in farm-to-table, but today there's new energy—and a wider range of culinary influences.—
Hannah Wallace,
Condé Nast Traveler,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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That's a lot of late nights and early mornings staring at the sky.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
25 Apr. 2026
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What Jaafar does amounts to an elaborate impression instead of an interpretation, re-creating the voice and the famous choreography and otherwise staring blankly into the middle distance when called upon to transmit emotions.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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As such, anticipated spending cuts have not materialized and British Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announced tax hikes in her next Autumn Budget to fill a yawning fiscal hole that could be as much as £50 billion ($67.2 billion), although estimates vary.—
Holly Ellyatt,
CNBC,
30 Sep. 2025
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Yet the shooting also divided the American public in ways that many found disturbing, including a yawning lack of empathy for the victim and even cheering for the shooter.—
Patrik Jonsson,
The Christian Science Monitor,
10 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Those are important characteristics for advertisers seeking to make dynamic campaigns for an audience that's grown accustomed to viewing short-form videos on Reels or gawking at cat photos on Facebook and Instagram.—
Jonathan Vanian,
CNBC,
9 Apr. 2026
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On a typical day, the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale reverberates with animal cries and the footfalls of gawking visitors.—
Shi En Kim,
AZCentral.com,
20 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The outer layers of the star will eventually cool and disperse, leaving a nebula of ex-stellar material surrounding the sun's core, which will then become an exposed cooling stellar remnant called a white dwarf.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
23 Apr. 2026
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The objective is to reduce exposed equity within the entity in a lawful and structured manner.—
Ascend Agency,
New York Daily News,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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One untitled work from 1994 shows a strange monster—a guard bent over, gazing back at us between his own legs, his upside-down grin framed by his jackboots.—
Ben Davis,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
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Even without a treatment booking, guests may cycle through the hydrotherapy circuit—steam, sauna, hot and cold plunge—while gazing at city panoramas.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gaping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gaping. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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