gap

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   An empty space or opening between two things.

   The dog squeezed through a gap in the fence.

2. 2
   noun

   A period of time when nothing is happening or planned.

   I have a gap in my schedule on Tuesday afternoon.

3. 3
   noun

   A large difference between two amounts, groups, or things.

   There is a growing gap between rich and poor in many countries.

4. 4
   noun

   Something missing; an absence or shortfall.

   Her sudden departure left a gap in the team.

Inherited from Middle English gap /gappe, from Old Norse gap (“an empty space, gap, chasm”), from gapa (“to gape, scream”), from Proto-Germanic *gapōną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₂- (“to open wide, gape”). Related to Danish gab (“an expanse, space, gap”), Old English ġeap (“open space, expanse”). Doublet of gape.

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