gape
/ˈɡeɪp/verb, noun
gape is spelled G-A-P-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, gape means “To open the mouth wide, especially involuntarily, as in a yawn, anger, or surprise” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in gape?
| Letters | 4: G-A-P-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 50,539th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is gape?
Gape appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gape?
- /ˈɡeɪp/
Gape has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-gape.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with gape?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as gape.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: page.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of gape
- gapes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- gaping participle, present
- gaped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gape mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To open the mouth wide, especially involuntarily, as in a yawn, anger, or surprise.
- 2
To stare in wonder.
- 3
To open wide; to display a gap.
The wound was gaping open and losing too much blood.
- 4
To open the passage to the vomeronasal organ, analogous to the flehming in other animals.
- 5
To depict a dilated anal or vaginal cavity upon penetrative sexual activity.
noun
- 1
An act of gaping; a yawn.
- 2
A large opening.
- 3
A disease in poultry caused by gapeworm in the windpipe, a symptom of which is frequent gaping.
- 4
The width of an opening.
- 5
The maximum opening of the mouth (of a bird, fish, etc.) when it is open.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gape in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does gape come from?
From Middle English gapen, from Old Norse gapa (“to gape”) (compare Swedish gapa, Danish gabe), from Proto-Germanic *gapōną (descendants Middle English geapen, Dutch gapen, German gaffen), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰеh₂b-. Cognates include Russian зяпа (zjapa). Doublet of gap.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).