verb.to open the mouth wide

• holes gaped in the pavement
• gaped at the squabbling monkeys

verb.to open or part widely

• The dull lecture made the students gape.

verb.to gaze stupidly or in open-mouthed surprise or wonder

noun.an act or instance of opening the mouth wide or of keeping the mouth open wide —often used in combination; sometimes, specifically: yawn

• her open-mouthed gape of surprise
• One piranha, she discovered, went from wide-open gape to shut jaws in less than five milliseconds, far faster than the wink of an eye.

noun.the expanse of an open mouth: the opening formed by the open mouth of an animal (such as a bird, fish, or snake) —sometimes used in combination

• It seemed his mouth was always sort of hanging open in a stupid gape …
• At first glance, the case seemed routine, and the suspects elicited no gapes =open-mouthed looks of surprise …

noun.the line along which the mandibles of a bird close

• She was pushing an unwieldy shopping cart in the street, trying to keep out of the way of oncoming cars, ignoring the gapes of passersby.
• … another hour of pleasure or of penance was to be sat out, another hour of music was to give delight or the gapes =a fit of yawning …