gasp

[ gasp, gahsp ]
See synonyms for gasp on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a sudden, short intake of breath, as in shock or surprise.

  2. a convulsive effort to breathe.

  1. a short, convulsive utterance: the words came out in gasps.

verb (used without object)
  1. to catch one's breath.

  2. to struggle for breath with the mouth open; breathe convulsively.

  1. to long with breathless eagerness; desire; crave (usually followed by for or after).

verb (used with object)
  1. to utter with gasps (often followed by out, forth, away, etc.): She gasped out the words.

  2. to breathe or emit with gasps (often followed by away).

Idioms about gasp

  1. last gasp, the point of death; dying: At his last gasp he confessed to the murder.

Origin of gasp

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English gaspen, probably Old English *gāspen, equivalent to Old Norse geispa; akin to gape

synonym study For gasp

4, 5. See pant1.

Other words for gasp

Other words from gasp

  • gasp·ing·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use gasp in a sentence

  • I am lucky on Secret Six to have an editor, Mark Doyle, who agrees, we want people to gasp out loud.

  • Cornelia blenched, for no reason that she could think of; she could not gasp out the "Yes" that she tried to utter.

    The Coast of Bohemia | William Dean Howells
  • She shrieked and sobbed and rolled over and over, clutching at her flesh, trying to gasp out words that choked her.

  • They seemed to gasp out her grief from the page; sometimes I could scarcely decipher them.

    Woven with the Ship | Cyrus Townsend Brady
  • Whenever the rapture sank somewhat, someone would gasp out a half-remembered bit of Mrs. Kitty's former defences.

    The Killer | Stewart Edward White
  • Mr. Rowe was just coming on board again, and I found courage in the emergency to gasp out, "What was that?"

    A Great Emergency and Other Tales | Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing

British Dictionary definitions for gasp

gasp

/ (ɡɑːsp) /


verb
  1. (intr) to draw in the breath sharply, convulsively, or with effort, esp in expressing awe, horror, etc

  2. (intr; foll by after or for) to crave

  1. (tr often foll by out) to utter or emit breathlessly

noun
  1. a short convulsive intake of breath

  2. a short convulsive burst of speech

  1. at the last gasp

    • at the point of death

    • at the last moment

Origin of gasp

1
C14: from Old Norse geispa to yawn; related to Swedish dialect gispa, Danish gispe

Derived forms of gasp

  • gaspingly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with gasp

gasp

see last gasp.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.