[gasp, gahsp] 
| 1. | a sudden, short intake of breath, as in shock or surprise. |
| 2. | a convulsive effort to breathe. |
| 3. | a short, convulsive utterance: the words came out in gasps. |
| 4. | to catch one's breath. |
| 5. | to struggle for breath with the mouth open; breathe convulsively. |
| 6. | to long with breathless eagerness; desire; crave (usually fol. by for or after). |
| 7. | to utter with gasps (often fol. by out, forth, away, etc.): She gasped out the words. |
| 8. | to breathe or emit with gasps (often fol. by away). |
| 9. | last gasp, the point of death; dying: At his last gasp he confessed to the murder. |
| last-gasp (lāst'gāsp') adj. Undertaken as a final recourse; last-ditch. last gasp n. |
last gasp
The moment before death; also, the end. For example, "Fight till the last gasp" (Shakespeare, 1 Henry VI, 1:2), or He was determined to stay at the party until the last gasp. This idiom alludes to taking one's last breath, literally (first example) or figuratively (second example). [Late 1500s]
