GASP • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Gasp

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/gæsp/ Listen

noun

Gasp n. The act of opening the mouth convulsively to catch the breath; a labored respiration; a painful catching of the breath.

At the last gasp, at the point of death.

verb

Gasp v. t. To emit or utter with gasps; with forth, out, away, etc. "And with short sobs he gasps away his breath."

Gasp v. i. (past & past part. gasped; pres. part. gasping)

To open the mouth wide in catching the breath, or in laborious respiration; to labor for breath; to respire convulsively; to pant violently. "She gasps and struggles hard for life."

To pant with eagerness; to show vehement desire. "Quenching the gasping furrows' thirst with rain."

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Etymology of 'Gasp'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Gasp" Quotes from Famous Books

... discuss, half in jest, half in earnest, love and the sweets of love: and, in school, under the fatherly eye of the master—a very polite and mild old gentleman—verses like the following, which he confiscated one day, when they made him gasp: ...

— Jean-Christophe Journey's End • Romain Rolland

... sounds, and I gasp. "Open!" and hands beat door and wall. "Open!" and each dark echo mutters. I rise, ...

— Poems New and Old • John Freeman

... his wife put certain remedies into his bag,—"and look after that child," he called over his shoulder to his efficient Martha. She was so efficient that when he had brought Jinny and the buggy to the door, Philly was able to gasp out that Mr. ...

— The Voice • Margaret Deland

... the touch of the fingers, very much as the muscles of a decapitated frog contract when the current of electricity passes over them. This is called reflex grasping, and Dr. Louis Robinson,[B] thinking that this early strength of gasp was an important illustration of and evidence for evolution, tried experiments on some sixty new-born babies. He found that they could sustain their whole weight by the arms alone when their hands were clasped about a slender rod. They grasped ...

— Study of Child Life • Marion Foster Washburne

... back in his chair, speechless with amazement. He seemed to gasp for breath as his long fingers pressed the green table-cover before him. His small eyes were wide open, and his toothless jaw dropped. Gouache feared that he was going to be ...

— Sant' Ilario • F. Marion Crawford

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