释义 |
▪ I. gaping, vbl. n.|ˈgeɪpɪŋ| [f. gape v. + -ing1.] 1. The action of the verb gape in various senses.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. ii. metr. ii. 24 (Camb. MS.) Crewel rauyne deuowrynge al that thei han getyn sheweth oother gapynges. c1440Promp. Parv. 186/1 Gapynge, hiatus, hiacio. 1581Mulcaster Positions xv. (1887) 70 Those..that be cumbred with much gaping and yawning. 1619M. Boyle in Lismore Papers Ser. ii. (1887) II. 237 In Dublin there is much gapeing at Cashelles death. 1722De Foe Moll Flanders (1840) 279 The lady-milliner paid dear enough for her gaping after the queen. 1822–34Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) III. 332 The particular kind of pandiculation, to which the first of these movements gives rise being called Oscitancy, Yawning or Gaping. 1870Morris Earthly Par. II. iii. 287 The painted dragon head that ye note now Grin at Jove's temple door with gapings vain. 2. A deep opening or chasm in the earth. ? Obs.
1539Tonstall Serm. Palm Sund. (1823) 70 Curtius..was contente for sauyng of the citie of Rome..to leape into a gapyng of the erth. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 281 They found such a deep and wide gaping of the rocke betwixt them and the enemy. 1684T. Burnet Th. Earth i. 148 As we shewed before in explaining the chanel of the ocean, it left a gaping in the middle, or an abyss-chanel, as I should call it. a1722Lisle Husb. (1752) 27 There was not a piece of earth to be seen..but it had large gapings in it. 3. attrib., as † gaping-seed (see gape-seed); gaping-stock, an object of open-mouthed wonder (cf. gazing-, laughing-stock).
1817Godwin Mandeville II. ii. 40, I was to be a gaping stock and a scorn to all the young volunteers. ▪ II. gaping, ppl. a.|ˈgeɪpɪŋ| [f. as prec. + -ing2.] That gapes, in various senses of the verb.
1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 249 Who art thou that lately did'st descend, Into this gaping hollow of the earth? 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 365 He met with a gaping Lion. 1683Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly 81 To be deafened with the noise of gaping boys. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 439 Hov'ring there, With gaping Mouths, they draw prolific Air. 1730Swift Corr. Wks. 1841 II. 636 We see Cato, and Brutus..as they really were, and not such as the gaping multitude of their own age took them to be. 1749Johnson Van. Hum. Wishes 48 Few know the toiling statesman's fear or care, The insidious rival and the gaping heir. 1854Woodward Mollusca ii. 246 Bivalves are said to be ‘close’ when the valves fit accurately, and ‘gaping’ when they cannot be completely shut. 1872Darwin Emotions ix. 236 No determined man probably ever had an habitually gaping mouth. 1884Public Opinion 11 July 30/1 The people's representatives are made to stand like gaping fools before the universe. Comb.1670Brooks Wks. (1867) VI. 303 Gaping-mouthed men are noted for fools by Lucian. Hence ˈgapingly adv., with open mouth; eagerly; amazedly. † Also, with hiatus.
1572Buchanan Detect. Marie Q. Scottes G ij, Sche that quhilere gapingly sought for euery small breath of suspicioun against her husband..of her awne accorde offreth him a louer. 1573–80Baret Alv. B 1341 To coine wordes so in his style that vowels meete together gapingly. 1812L. Hunt in Exam. 14 Dec. 785/1 He has not been accustomed to be..so gapingly at a loss. 1883Stevenson Silverado Sq. (1886) 43, I hearkened to it by the hour, gapingly hearkened, and let my cigarette go out. |