gap
gap Lexical Profile
gap Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A break or hole in an object or between two objects.
"The dog squeezed through a narrow gap in the wooden fence."
An unfilled space or interval of time; an interruption in continuity.
"After a five-year gap in her career, she returned to teaching."
A wide divergence or disparity between two groups, ideas, situations, or levels.
"Policy makers are working to narrow the economic gap between urban and rural communities."
A low, narrow pass or gorge through a mountain range or ridge, often carved by water or glacial erosion.
"Early pioneers traveled westward through a natural gap in the Appalachian Mountains."
• verb
To make an opening, breach, or space in something, or to set a specific distance between components (such as the electrodes of a spark plug).
"The mechanic carefully gapped the new spark plugs before installing them in the engine."
To fall open or leave an unintended space between parts.
"The curtains gapped slightly in the middle, letting in a sliver of morning sunlight."
• Rhymes for gap
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English from Old Norse gap ('chasm, abyss, wide-open mouth'), closely related to the verb gape ('to open the mouth wide').