gap

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See also: Gap, GAP, gấp, gäp, and gặp

English

Pronunciation

  • enPR: gap, IPA(key): /ɡæp/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (AU)(file)
  • Rhymes: -æp

Etymology 1

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”); compare English gape.

Noun

gap (plural gaps)

  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.
    (see also gap-toothed)
    • 2013 August 3, “The machine of a new soul”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
      The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure. Yet this is the level of organisation that does the actual thinking—and is, presumably, the seat of consciousness.
  7. A mountain or hill pass.
    The exploring party went through the high gap in the mountains.
  8. (Sussex) 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. (baseball) The regions between the outfielders.
    Jones doubled through the gap.
  10. (Australia, for a medical or pharmacy item) The shortfall between the amount the medical insurer will pay to the service provider and the scheduled fee for the item.
    • 2008, Eileen Willis, Louise Reynolds, Helen Keleher, Understanding the Australian Health Care System, page 5:
      Under bulk billing the patient does not pay a gap, and the medical practitioner receives 85% of the scheduled fee.
  11. (Australia) (usually written as "the gap") The disparity between the indigenous and non-indigenous communities with regard to life expectancy, education, health, etc.
  12. (genetics) An unsequenced region in a sequence alignment.
Synonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
hiatus — see hiatus
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

gap (third-person singular simple present gaps, present participle gapping, simple past and past participle gapped)

  1. (transitive) To notch, as a sword or knife.
  2. (transitive) To make an opening in; to breach.
  3. (transitive) 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. (New Zealand, slang) To leave suddenly.
    • 2020 June 17, “'They've just gapped it': Duo fled quarantine authorities after gang funeral”, in Newstalk ZB‎:
Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

gap (plural gaps)

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

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Verb

gap

  1. inflection of gappen:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. imperative

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English gap. Related to gapen, gaap, jaap.

Noun

gap n (plural gappen, diminutive gapje n)

  1. (business) gap
    Synonyms: gat, kloof

French

Pronunciation

Noun

gap m (plural gaps)

  1. (chemistry) gap
  2. gap (difference)

Garo

Noun

gap

  1. snail

Icelandic

Etymology

Back-formation from gapa (“to open one's mouth wide; to yawn”).

Pronunciation

Noun

gap n (genitive singular gaps, nominative plural göp)

  1. gap, opening
    Synonyms: op, rifa, glufa

Declension

declension of gap
n-s singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative gap gapið göp göpin
accusative gap gapið göp göpin
dative gapi gapinu göpum göpunum
genitive gaps gapsins gapa gapanna

Indonesian

Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɡap/
  • Hyphenation: gap

Noun

gap

  1. beating, the sound of action by which someone or something is beaten.
    Synonym: degap

Etymology 2

From English gap, from Middle English gap, gappe, a borrowing from Old Norse gap (“an empty space, gap, chasm”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɡɛp/
  • Hyphenation: gap

Noun

gap

  1. gap,
    1. an opening in anything.
      Synonym: celah
    2. the disparity between communities with regard to life expectancy, education, health, etc.
      Synonyms: jurang, kesenjangan

Further reading

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

gap

  1. imperative of gape

Old High German

Verb

gap

  1. manuscript spelling of gab, first/third-person singular past indicative of geban

Old Norse

Etymology

Presumably from gapa (“to gape”).

Pronunciation

  • (12th century Icelandic) IPA(key): /ˈɡɑp/

Noun

gap n (genitive gaps, plural gǫp)

  1. gap, empty space
    • Vǫluspá, verse 3, lines 7-8, in 1860, T. Möbius, Edda Sæmundar hins fróða: mit einem Anhang zum Theil bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig, page 1:
      gap var ginnunga, / en gras hvergi.
      gap was of void, / but grass nowhere.
  2. (figuratively) shouting, crying, gab
    • Haralds saga herdráða 64, in 1868, C. R. Unger, G. Vigfússon, Flateyjarbok. Udg. efter offentlig foranstaltning, Volume 3. Christiania, page 425:
      þar uar suo mikit hareyste og gap
      there was so much noise and gab

Declension

  Declension of gap (strong a-stem)
neuter singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative gap gapit gǫp gǫpin
accusative gap gapit gǫp gǫpin
dative gapi gapinu gǫpum gǫpunum
genitive gaps gapsins gapa gapanna

Derived terms

Terms derived from gap

Related terms

  • gapa (“to gape”)
  • gapi (“reckless man”)

Descendants

  • Danish: gab
  • Faroese: gap
  • Icelandic: gap
  • → Middle English: gap, gappe
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gap
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: gap
  • Swedish: gap

References

  • “gap”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • gap in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, R. Cleasby and G. Vigfússon, Clarendon Press, 1874, at Internet Archive.
  • gap in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, G. T. Zoëga, Clarendon Press, 1910, at Internet Archive.

Polish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

gap m pers

  1. (colloquial, usually in the plural, derogatory) gawker, gaper, mindless onlooker, rubbernecker
    Synonyms: gapowicz, świadek, widz
Usage notes

Because this word inflects as if it contained a terminal , which no longer exists in Polish and cannot be represented in Polish orthography, the nominative singular form is in practice used only as a lemma in dictionaries. Most native speakers only recognize this word in its inflected forms.

Declension
Declension of gap
singular plural
nominative gap gapie
genitive gapia gapiów
dative gapiowi gapiom
accusative gapia gapiów
instrumental gapiem gapiami
locative gapiu gapiach
vocative gapiu gapie

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

gap f

  1. genitive plural of gapa

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

gap

  1. second-person singular imperative of gapić

Further reading

  • gap in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • gap in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

Noun

gap m (plural gaps)

  1. gap (difference)

Further reading

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse gap.

Noun

gap n

  1. chasm or abyss
  2. gap; an opening that implies a breach or defect.
  3. a mouth, especially when wide open
  4. the space between the jaws of a wrench

Declension

Declension of gap 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative gap gapet gap gapen
Genitive gaps gapets gaps gapens

Derived terms

  • gapskratt (“loud unrestrained laughter”)
  • gapflabb (“loud uncontrolled laughter”)

Related terms

  • gapa (“to open one's mouth”)

Anagrams

Wikious
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