| 释义 |
▪ I. gap, n.1|gæp|
Also 4–6 gappe, 6–7 gapp.
[a. ON. gap chasm (only in the mythological name Ginnunga-gap), wide-mouthed outcry (Sw. gap, Da. gab open mouth, also opening, chasm); n. related to ON. and Sw. gapa, Da. gabe to gape.]
Any opening or breach in an otherwise continuous object; a chasm or hiatus.
1. a. A breach in a wall or hedge, as the result of violence or natural decay.
c1380Sir Ferumb. 4989 So harde þay þrewe aȝen þe wal..And succh a gappe þay made þer-on. Ibid. 5164 To þe gappes [orig. holes] buþ þay come. c1400Rom. Rose 4023 Rise up..And stoppe sone and delyverly Alle the gappis of the hay. c1440Promp. Parv. 186/1 Gap of a walle, intervallum. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §141 Or to fynde a gap or a sherde in his hedge. 1584Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 16 For mendinge a gappe in the churchyard wall..ij d. 1604Eng. Gilds (1870) 434 No man shall make yates or gapes in the common feild. 1666Bunyan Grace Ab. ⁋54, I saw as it were a narrow gap like a little doorway in the wall. 1712Addison Spect. No. 315 ⁋14 Satan, after having long wandered upon the surface, or outmost Wall of the Universe, discovers at last a wide Gap in it. 1821Shelley Boat on Serchio 82 Those green harbours Farmers called gaps, and we schoolboys called arbours. 1843Lever J. Hinton xxii, We came to a low stone wall, through a gap of which we passed.
fig.1595Shakes. John iii. iv. 32, I will..stop this gap of breath with fulsome dust.
†b. Phrase. to stop two gaps with one bush: ‘to kill two birds with one stone’, to accomplish two ends at once. Obs.
1546J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 78, I will learne, to stop two gaps with one bushe. 1638Sanderson Serm. II. 97 This common usage of the phrase, as it well preserveth the sence, so doth it also (that I may stop two gaps with one bush) justifie the truth of this charge in my text.
†2. fig.
a. An opening or breach by which entry may be effected or attack made; more rarely of a way of escape. Obs.
1548in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. ii. App. Q. 56 Many good men..study to devise good laws..so..a great many..labour to defeat them: and as the common saying is to find gapps and starting holes. 1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 60 Lest that thereby men be troubled and a Gappe left open to the malice of Sycophants. 1624Sir R. Knightley in Fortesc. Papers (Camden) 196 Which is interpreted a gapp for an escape if any can be made either by mischeife or money. a1628Preston Breastpl. Love (1631) 215 The standing still and not hastening to the gappe. 1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 286 No gap open where we could have the least apprehensions of any evil breaking in upon us. 1756in Temple & Sheldon Hist. Northfield, Mass. (1875) 294 We humbly beg of you..to guard us in our husbandry..and that we may not be a gap open as in times past.
†b. esp. in phrases. to stand in the gap: to act as defender. to open a gap: to give access, afford passage or opportunity. to stop a gap: to close a breach, secure a weak point, prevent attack. Obs.
1535Coverdale Ezek. xiii. 5 They stonde not in the gappes, nether make they an hedge for the house of Israel. Ibid. xxii. 30. c 1555 Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 273 So dangerous a matter it is to open once the gap to errors and heresies. 1596Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 621/2 Such a gapp of mischeif lyeth open therby, that I could wish it were well stopped. 1599Thynne Animadv. (1875) 51 To stoppe that gappe, I will answere, that Chaucers woorkes haue byn sithens printed twyce. 1631Gouge God's Arrows i. §45. 77 When there is none to stand in the gap, how should his wrath be stayed? 1664J. Keymor Dutch Fishing in Phenix II. 225 To open the Gap of Traffick, and to make fulness of Trade. c1680Beveridge Serm. (1729) II. 116 As if it opened a gap to all manner of licentiousness. 1757G. Washington Lett. Writ. 1889 I. 508 The inhabitants see, and are convinced of this, which makes each family afraid of standing in the gap of danger.
†3. A gash or wound in the body. Obs.
a1500Lament. Virgin Mary in Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) II. 208 To see my sone y have grete peyne, In hys breste so grete a gappe ys. 1541R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. N iiij b, The .ix. place is vpon the eares & gappes of depe woundes. 1600Fairfax Tasso xi. xlv, Through his right eie Clorindaes seu'nth shaft went And in his necke broke forth a bloodie gap.
4. a. A notch; a small break or opening in an edge or surface. Now rare.
1530Palsgr. 224/1 Gappe in a knyfe, hoche. 1591[see hard a. 21]. c1645Howell Lett. (1892) I. 316 The Jews..when they kill any Creature..cut the Throat with a Knife without a Gap. 1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. Man. iv. vi. 342 There is observed in that place a Gap or Chink. 1833J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 257 The pinion of the axle..coming to the gap at D..sinks or rises in the slit. 1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 443 The passages are..short, and relatively broad, and may more properly be termed gaps or cavities.
†b. A notch or slit made in a swan's beak, as a private mark. Obs.
1558–9Will of W. Yatles (Somerset Ho.), My swane mark of the twoo gappes and the Staple. 1656in Linc. N. & Q. (1897) V. 92 One Swanne mark of the Gapp with the Penney cross in alt on the nere side.
5. a. A break or opening in a range of mountains; a pass or gorge (very common in U.S.).
1555Eden Decades 350 Ouer the sayde byght you shall se a great gappe in the mountayne. 1709Addison Tatler No. 161 ⁋8 Two great Gaps that led thro' this Circuit of Mountains. 1788M. Cutler in Life, Jrnls. & Corr. (1888) I. 403 We passed the narrows or gaps of two ranges of high mountains. 1816J. Bigelow in New-Eng. Jrnl. Med. & Surg. V. 323 From this town a road has been cut, passing through a gap of the mountains to Portland. 1847Parkman Oregon Tr. (1872) 180 We reached the gap, which was like a deep notch cut into the mountain-ridge. 1890Boldrewood Miner's Right xv. 153 An ugly lot to meet in one of those narrow rocky gaps, as they call them, over the line of ranges.
b. With defining word: water-gap, one which is deep enough to serve as the course of a stream (Cent. Dict.); wind-gap (see quot. 1889).
1779D. Livermore in Coll. New Hampsh. Hist. Soc. (1850) VI. 314 This morning the troops..pass the Windgap, so called, for its being the only pass for a number of miles through a long chain of mountains. 1877A. B. Sylvester Sk. North. N.Y. 60 A water-gap, forming a natural gateway through the mountains. 1889J. D. Whitney United States 223 Gaps..in which the depression in the ridge is not sufficiently deep to give passage to a watercourse are known as ‘wind-gaps’.
c. local. (See quots.)
1825Brighton Commissioners' Act §62 Gap, a road or descent from cliffs to sea-shore. 1868Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., Gap, an opening at the Bank-top through which a path or track winding up the steep Bank-side finds its way on to the open moor.
d. A hole or chasm in the ground.
1696Whiston Th. Earth iv. (1722) 381 Its old Fissures were open'd..and sufficient Gaps made. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge ii, Great holes and gaps had worn into the soil, being now filled with water from the late rains.
6. a. An unfilled space or interval; a blank or deficiency; a break in continuity. Also, a disparity, inequality or imbalance; a break in deductive continuity; a (usu. undesirable) difference in development, condition, understanding, etc.; in modern use freq. qualified by a preceding n., as in credibility gap, dollar gap, generation gap, missile gap (see under the first elements). Cf. senses 6 b and 7.
1605Shakes. Macb. iii. i. 12 If he had beene forgotten, It had bene as a gap in our great Feast. 1670Milton Hist. Eng. ii. Wks. (1847) 483/2 Were it not for leaving an unsightly gap so near to the beginning, I should have judg'd this Labour..almost superfluous. 1675J. Pynchon in I. Mather K. Philip's War (1862) 237, I could be heartily glad if we were able to spare some men, but..nine men out of this Towne..makes a great gap. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iii. vi. (1695) 250 In all the visible corporeal World, we see no Chasms or Gaps..the descent is by easie Steps, and a continued series of Things. 1754Richardson Grandison I. ix. 51 In that long gap of time as he called it. 1771N. Nicholls Corr. w. Gray (1843) 126, I found the gap between Froissart and Comines, and longed for Monstrelet. 1853Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 85 A part of the bridge projecting from each bank, and a gap in the middle. 1865Kingsley Lett. (1878) II. 214 His death is to me a great sorrow—a gap in my life which I feel and cannot fill. 1874Sayce Compar. Philol. vi. 236 There is no break, no sudden gap in nature; all follows in a regular unbroken order. 1892Law Times XCII. 145/2 The gap on the walls caused by the removal of the portraits. 1930Economist 13 Sept. 477/1 The widening gap between income and expenditure disclosed by the latest revenue return. 1940Ibid. 30 Nov. 662/1 The ‘gap’ in the Budget is of the order of {pstlg}2,000 millions a year. 1952Sat. Rev. 20 Sept. 9/3 Gap ought to be removed from public speech, as in the dollar gap, the export gap, inflationary and deflationary gap. 1956A. J. Ayer Probl. Knowl. ii. 80 They accept the existence of the gap between evidence and conclusion, but they hold that it can be bridged by a legitimate process of inductive reasoning. 1959Times Lit. Suppl. 22 May 305/1 The Gap that has come to enjoy the dignity of capital letters, namely, the gap that has opened up in the past hundred years between men of science and students of the humanities. 1964Philos. Rev. LXXIII. 165 (title) The Gap between ‘Is’ and ‘Should’. 1967Nature 4 Mar. 851/1 The phenomenon which has become known as the technology gap is more a matter of management than of technology. 1968Listener 29 Aug. 273/3 It's this imbalance which gives the Soviet Union such an advantage in its dealings with the West, and it's far more important than any ‘gap’ in technology or arms. 1969Mind LXXVIII. 27 He deals with the logical gap by jumping it. 1971Nature 25 June 481/1 The ‘technology gap’—the supposed disparity between the United States and the rest of the industrialized world in the capacity to exploit advanced technology.
b. Phrases. to stop, to fill (in or up), to supply a gap: to make up a deficiency, supply a want, fill a vacant space. Also, to bridge or close a gap.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §146 A woman can nat get her lyuynge honestly wt spynnynge on the dystaffe, but it stoppeth a gappe. 1548Hall Chron, K. Hen. VI, 175 All though thei daily lost people..yet their numbre was restored, and the gappe euer filled. 1655Sir E. Nicholas in N. Papers (Camden) II. 222 He has already hindred 500li..which would stop many a gapp now, it may be more then 2000li will at another time. 1711Swift Lett. (1767) III. 217, I make a present of it [money] to stop some gaps. 1776F. Bull Let. 28 Oct. in Wilkes' Corr. (1805) V. 85, I only mean to stop the gap for the present. 1835Thirlwall Greece I. v. 131 Invented merely to fill up a gap in chronology. 1845Maurice Mor. & Met. Philos. in Encycl. Metrop. II. 653/1 Theology would be..brought in to supply gaps in the system which philosophy had tried to construct. 1879Froude Cæsar xix. 311 He had a few levies with him to fill the gaps in the old legions. 1879[see bridge v.1 1 d]. 1927Cherwell 25 June 238/1 A few days ago a London journalist was commenting..on the cleavage between..the Oxford Set and the young officers of the Guards... However, Mr. Drury Lowe is the one person..who has successfully bridged this gap, if gap there be. 1944Ann. Reg. 1943 50 The production of coal..had fully kept pace with consumption and in fact somewhat exceeded it, so closing the previous ‘gap’ of eleven million tons annually. 1950S. E. Toulmin Exam. Place of Reason xv. 223 All his experience and wisdom are needed to bridge the gap between facts and values. 1957BBC Handbk. 84 ‘Forces' Requests’..is an attempt to close the gap between National Servicemen all over the world and their families at home in Britain. 1961Ann. Reg. 1960 500 Efforts to ‘bridge the gap’ between the Common Market and the European Free Trade Association continued.
†c. Used to render L. hiatus. Obs.
1706Pope Let. to Walsh 22 Oct., To come to the Hiatus, or Gap between two words.
d. Aeronaut. The vertical distance between the upper and lower wings of a biplane.
1909Hazell's Annual 1910 487/2 Another tailless biplane is the Cody, the main planes of which have..a gap of 9 ft. in the centre. 1915W. E. Dommett Aeroplanes & Airships 33 The gap between the planes, which are staggered, is 4 ft. 9 in. 1916H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks 63 There will be..loss of efficiency unless the gap between the top and bottom surfaces is equal to not less than 1½ times the chord. 1936B. Jones Elem. Pract. Aerodynam. vi. 99 Struts act as columns, and, if the gap is unduly big, the struts are excessively long and the structure is weak. 1949J. W. Vale Aviation Mechanic's Aircraft Man. i. 25 The greater the gap, the smaller the interference of air flow between the upper and lower wing.
7. A breach or wide divergence in character or sympathies.
1857Buckle Civiliz. I. vii. 458 Such is the great gap which separates the public men of our time from those who flourished under that bad system. 1876Freeman Norm. Conq. V. xxiv. 495 There was..a gap between him and the mass of his flock and Clergy.
8. techn. (See quot. and cf. gap-bed lathe.)
1873C. P. B. Shelley Workshop Appliances vi. 190 A gap is an expedient for..enabling a lathe to take in articles of much greater diameter..without materially increasing its weight or general dimensions.
9. attrib. and Comb., as gap-way; (objective), gap-stopper; gap-filling n. and adj.; gap-bed, the bed of a gap-bed lathe; a gap-bed lathe; gap-bed lathe (see quot.); gap-bridge, a bridge or piece of casting which closes the gap in a gap-bed lathe when not in use; gap-hunter, one who in riding to hounds makes for the gaps, instead of riding straight; gap-lathe = gap-bed lathe; gap-net (? obs.), a net placed across a gap (cf. gate-net); gap-rope (see quot.); † gap-wide a., gaping wide open; gap-window (see quot.).
1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 157 *Gap bed, a lathe bed having a portion recessed out in front of and below the headstock, to receive work larger in diameter than the height of the lathe centres, under ordinary conditions, will allow of. 1905Daily Chron. 12 Sept. 1/3 (Advt.), Lathe, 7 in. centres, 12 ft. gap bed. 1955C. T. Bower Bk. of Lathe ii. 44 The gap bed is very popular with British lathe manufacturers, but it has never been thought desirable by American makers. Ibid. 45 General purpose lathes..can have gap beds so that they can swing the unexpected big jobs.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. IV. 375 *Gap-bed lathe, one with an opening in the bed or shears to allow a larger object to be turned.
1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin., *Gap bridge.
1890W. James Princ. Psychol. I. ix. 265 All the rest..is internodal consciousness, giving us the sense of continuity, but having no significance apart from its mere *gap-filling function. 1958Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Mar. 142/1 Thinking appears in an obvious sense as an exercise in gap-filling. 1964C. Dent Quantity Surveying by Computer vi. 81 The whole of the vocabulary for that trade in which the heading occurs is now read on to the drum, in readiness for the gap-filling subroutine which is to follow.
1872Daily News 26 Mar., Though a man..should hunt properly, a woman need not be ashamed of being a ‘*gap-hunter’.
1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 280/3 *Gap-lathes find employment chiefly in small work-shops. 1884Health Exhib. Catal. 118/2 Powerful Double-geared Gap Lathe, self-acting and screw-cutting.
1727Philip Quarll (1816) 28 An animal..which he had found taken in one of the *gap-nets.
1883Man. Seamanship for Boys 60 Foot-Line or *Gap Rope is a rope's end rove through a block at the bowsprit cap, and bent to an eyelet-hole in the foot of the jib, or to the clew of the jib.
1758J. Rutty Spir. Diary (ed. 2) 115 The Lord honoured me with a post of being one of the three *gap-stoppers on this occasion.
1857S. Osborn Quedah xix. 267 We swept through another *gapway in the hills.
1583Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 51 Downe we beat oure rampiers, our towne wals *gapwyd ar opned.
1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 942/1 *Gap-window, a long and narrow window.
▸ gap year n. Brit. a period of time (usually an academic year) taken by a student as a break from formal education, typically between leaving school and starting a university or college course, and often spent travelling or working.
1985Times 9 Dec. 28 Many young people are making deliberate decisions to take a year off, often referred to as the *gap year. This year is frequently split between some form of voluntary service or travel and a period in industry. 1994Scotsman (Electronic ed.) 10 Aug. Most major employers, universities and colleges view a gap year as a good thing... Coopers & Lybrand, for instance, has funded a gap-year student at St Andrews University to teach English in the Baltic region. 2000Independent 10 Aug. i. 4/4 (caption) Maya Oakley..spent her gap year in Australia.
▪ II. gap, n.2|gæp|
[Cf. gaff n.3]
blowing the gap: blowing the gaff, giving information.
1821P. Egan Real Life, etc. I. xxiv. 557 He should like to smack the bit without blowing the gap.
▪ III. gap, v.|gæp|
[f. gap n.1]
a. intr. To break at the edge; to become jagged or notched. rare.
b. trans. To make notches in. dial. rare. See also gapped.
1847–78Halliwell, Gap, to notch, to jag. South. 1864Reader 28 May 688 Iron was preferable to steel. Steel gapped and lost its edge. 1881in Isle of Wight Gloss.
c. To make a gap or breach in or between; to open (a gap or passage). Cf. last quot. for gapped ppl. a. 2.
1893Funk's Stand. Dict., Gap,..to make an opening or cause a hiatus or breach in. 1916‘Boyd Cable’ Action Front 95 Eager hands tore down the sandbags to gap a passage for them. 1925Brit. Weekly 5 Mar. 545/3 Demolishing two-thirds of the houses, and ‘gapping’ and ‘loop-holing’ the remainder. 1927Daily Express 29 July 1/2 The sowing, ‘gapping’, ‘singling’, hoeing, and other processes. 1959Motor 2 Sept. 76/1 Distributor points properly gapped.
d. intr. To be broken through at intervals; to have gaps; to gape open.
1948D. Ballantyne Cunninghams 22 The cottage veranda gapped in places. 1951in M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 74 Because it fits so well, the sides don't gap.
Hence ˈgapping vbl. n., a breaking into notches.
1683Evelyn Diary 13 July, The gapping too of the razor, and cutting his own fingers, was a little strange. |