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gasp

noun

No English definition recorded for this entry.

L16819 on Wikidata ↗

verb

  1. breathe hard
  2. say breathily
L16820 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ɡɑːsp/ / /ɡasp/ / /ɡæsp/

adj

Etymology: Coined by Larry Sanger in 2025.

  1. Acronym of globalist, academic, secular and progressive.

    Those who dwell outside of Western Establishment bastions are not idiots just because they do not mouth the pieties of GASP. Some of them can write very well. There are other traditions, you know. They could write for Wikipedia, if you let them. But such true openness and genuine tolerance is unacceptable, precisely because those other traditions fail to pay exclusive homage to GASP sources, through which—Wikipedians imagine—all the benefits of global civilization flow.

intj

Etymology: From Middle English gaspen, gayspen (“to gape, outbreathe”), related to and likely derived from Old Norse geispa (“to yawn”) or its descendant Danish gispe, which may be related to gapa (“to gape”).

  1. The sound of a gasp.

    Gasp! What will happen next?

noun

Etymology: From Middle English gaspen, gayspen (“to gape, outbreathe”), related to and likely derived from Old Norse geispa (“to yawn”) or its descendant Danish gispe, which may be related to gapa (“to gape”).

  1. A short, sudden intake of breath.

    The audience gave a gasp of astonishment

  2. A draw or drag on a cigarette (or gasper).

    I'm popping out for a gasp.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English gaspen, gayspen (“to gape, outbreathe”), related to and likely derived from Old Norse geispa (“to yawn”) or its descendant Danish gispe, which may be related to gapa (“to gape”).

  1. To draw in the breath suddenly, as if from a shock.

    The audience gasped as the magician disappeared.

  2. To breathe quickly or in a labored manner, as after exertion; to respire with heaving of the breast; to pant.

    We were all gasping when we reached the summit.

    c. 1761-1764, Robert Lloyd, An Epistle to C. Churchill, Author of the Rosicad She gasps and struggles hard for life.

  3. To speak in a breathless manner.

    The old man gasped his last few words.

  4. To pant with eagerness or excitement; to show vehement desire.

    I'm gasping for a cup of tea.

    Quenching the gasping furrows' thirst with rain.