Library / English Dictionary

GAP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: gapped    , gapping   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An act of delaying or interrupting the continuity

Example:

there was a gap in his account

Synonyms:

break; disruption; gap; interruption

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("gap" is a kind of...):

delay; holdup (the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gap"):

cut-in; insert ((film) a still picture that is introduced and that interrupts the action of a film)

cut-in; insert ((broadcasting) a local announcement inserted into a network program)

interjection; interpellation; interpolation; interposition (the action of interjecting or interposing an action or remark that interrupts)

abruption; breaking off (an instance of sudden interruption)

barracking; heckling (shouting to interrupt a speech with which you disagree)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A narrow opening

Example:

he opened the window a crack

Synonyms:

crack; gap

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("gap" is a kind of...):

opening (a vacant or unobstructed space that is man-made)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gap"):

blank; lacuna (a blank gap or missing part)

spark gap (the gap between two high-potential terminals)

Derivation:

gap (make an opening or gap in)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A conspicuous disparity or difference as between two figures

Example:

the spread between lending and borrowing costs

Synonyms:

gap; spread

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("gap" is a kind of...):

disparity (inequality or difference in some respect)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A difference (especially an unfortunate difference) between two opinions or two views or two situations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("gap" is a kind of...):

conflict; difference; difference of opinion; dispute (a disagreement or argument about something important)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gap"):

generation gap (a difference between the views of young people and their parents)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A pass between mountain peaks

Synonyms:

col; gap

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("gap" is a kind of...):

mountain pass; notch; pass (the location in a range of mountains of a geological formation that is lower than the surrounding peaks)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gap"):

water gap (a pass in a mountain ridge through which a stream flows)

wind gap (a pass in a mountain ridge with no stream flowing through it)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An open or empty space in or between things

Example:

the explosion made a gap in the wall

Synonyms:

gap; opening

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("gap" is a kind of...):

space (an empty area (usually bounded in some way between things))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gap"):

window (an opening that resembles a window in appearance or function)

rent; rip; snag; split; tear (an opening made forcibly as by pulling apart)

rift (a gap between cloud masses)

mouth (an opening that resembles a mouth (as of a cave or a gorge))

hole (an opening into or through something)

cleft; crack; crevice; fissure; scissure (a long narrow opening)

chasm (a deep opening in the earth's surface)

breach (an opening (especially a gap in a dike or fortification))

foramen; hiatus (a natural opening or perforation through a bone or a membranous structure)

nodes of Ranvier; Ranvier's nodes (small gaps in the myelin sheath of medullated axons)

diastema (a gap or vacant space between two teeth)

pocket (an opening at the corner or on the side of a billiard table into which billiard balls are struck)

Holonyms ("gap" is a part of...):

Earth's surface; surface (the outermost level of the land or sea)

Derivation:

gap (make an opening or gap in)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make an opening or gap in

Synonyms:

breach; gap

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "gap" is one way to...):

open; open up (cause to open or to become open)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

gap (a narrow opening)

gap (an open or empty space in or between things)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Mitotic cell cycle progression is accomplished through a reproducible sequence of events, DNA replication (S phase) and mitosis (M phase) separated temporally by gaps known as G1 and G2 phases.

(Cell Cycle Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

A program created to address roadblocks to research and to transform the way biomedical research is conducted by overcoming specific hurdles or filling defined knowledge gaps.

(NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, NCI Thesaurus)

There are gaps in that direction which we have still to fill.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Stop it from without!” cried Hawtayne, seizing the end of the wet sail with which the gap had been plugged.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A rare congenital cardiovascular disorder characterized by the presence of a gap between the ascending and descending portions of the thoracic aorta.

(Interrupted Aortic Arch, NCI Thesaurus)

The variety in the properties of gap junctions is reflected in the number of connexins, the family of proteins which form the junctions.

(Gap Junction, NCI Thesaurus)

Narrow blood vessels found in the liver, spleen and bone marrow with gaps rather than tight junctions between endothelial cells creating a highly permeable surface.

(Discontinuous Capillary, NCI Thesaurus)

A synapse in which electrical connection is made directly through the cytoplasm, via gap junctions.

(Electrical Synapse, NCI Thesaurus)

The G1/S cell cycle checkpoint controls the passage of eukaryotic cells from the first 'gap' phase (G1) into the DNA synthesis phase (S).

(G1/S Checkpoint Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

She had some reason to be disgusted with me now, and the gap between us began to be wider and wider.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)