Gape vs Observe - What's the difference?
gape | observe | Related terms |
To open the mouth wide, especially involuntarily, as in a yawn, anger, or surprise.
* 1723 , , The Journal of a Modern Lady'', 1810, Samuel Johnson, ''The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper , Volume 11,
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=9 To stare in wonder.
To open wide; to display a gap.
* '', Act 1, Scene 1, 1807, Samuel Johnson, George Steevens (editors),''The plays of William Shakspeare , Volume X,
* 1662 , , Book II, A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, p. 74:
* , Cato Major, Of Old Age: A Poem , 1710,
(uncommon) An act of gaping; a yawn.
A large opening.
(uncountable) A disease in poultry caused by gapeworm in the windpipe, a symptom of which is frequent gaping.
The width of an opening.
(zoology) The maximum opening of the mouth (of a bird, fish, etc.) when it is open.
(lb) To notice or view, especially carefully or with attention to detail.
:
*1892 , (Arthur Conan Doyle),
*:“One horse?” interjected Holmes. ¶ “Yes, only one.” ¶ “Did you observe the colour?”
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-03, author=Frank Fish, George Lauder
, volume=101, issue=2, page=114, magazine=(American Scientist)
, title= (lb) To follow or obey the custom, practice, or rules (especially of a religion).
:
*Bible, (w)
*:Ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread.
*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 10, author=Jeremy Wilson, work=Telegraph
, title= (lb) To comment on something; to make an observation.
:
*
*:Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ ("I never) understood it," she observed , lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."
Gape is a related term of observe.
As verbs the difference between gape and observe
is that gape is to open the mouth wide, especially involuntarily, as in a yawn, anger, or surprise while observe is .As a noun gape
is (uncommon) an act of gaping; a yawn.gape
English
Verb
(gap)page 467,
- She stretches, gapes , unglues her eyes, / And asks if it be time to rise;
citation, passage=Eustace gaped at him in amazement. When his urbanity dropped away from him, as now, he had an innocence of expression which was almost infantile. It was as if the world had never touched him at all.}}
page 291,
- May that ground gape , and swallow me alive, / Where I shall kneel to him who slew my father!
- "Nor is he deterr'd from the belief of the perpetual flying of the Manucodiata, by the gaping of the feathers of her wings, (which seem thereby less fit to sustain her body) but further makes the narration probable by what he has observed in Kites hovering in the Aire, as he saith, for a whole hour together without any flapping of their wings or changing place."
page 25,
- The hungry grave for her due tribute gapes :
Noun
- (Addison)
Derived terms
*Anagrams
* ----observe
English
Verb
(observ)Not Just Going with the Flow, passage=An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex . The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.}}
England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report, passage=A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After Fifa’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward. }}