One syllable: Gape.
gayp
/ɡeɪp/
Gape is pronounced gayp (/ɡeɪp/). It has one syllable (Gape), with the stress on "Gape". Gape is a verb meaning to open the mouth wide, typically in surprise or astonishment, or to stare with an open mouth. It can also describe a wide, open gap or opening. The sense of emitting or exhibiting wide openness is central, and usage often conveys a strong visual of breadth or vulnerability in attention or expression.
verbGape is a verb meaning to open the mouth wide, typically in surprise or astonishment, or to stare with an open mouth. It can also describe a wide, open gap or opening. The sense of emitting or exhibiting wide openness is central, and usage often conveys a strong visual of breadth or vulnerability in attention or expression.
"The crowd began to gape in astonishment as the magician revealed the final trick."
"Her mouth gaped open when she saw the size of the statue."
"The chasm gaped between the two cliffs, inviting a dangerous leap."
Pronounce as /ɡeɪp/. Start with a hard /g/ from the back of the mouth, then glide into the long vowel /eɪ/ (as in 'gate'), finishing with a clean /p/. Stress is on the only syllable. Keep the lips unrounded before the /eɪ/ and prevent the /p/ from borrowing air into a trailing sound. A quick audio cue is: 'GAYP' with a short, unreleased final /p/ in careful speech. If you’re listening, you’ll hear a crisp onset, a rising diphthong, and a firm closure.
Two frequent errors: 1) Slurring the final /p/ or releasing it into the following consonant, making it sound like /gep/ or /geɪp/ with a soft /p/. 2) Misproducing the /eɪ/ as a short /e/ or /ɛ/, resulting in 'gep' or 'geɪp' without full vowel quality. Correction: ensure the /eɪ/ is a clear diphthong: start mid/front with /e/ then glide toward /ɪ/ or near /ɪ/ before the final /p/. Stop the air with a crisp, short /p/ release. Practice by isolating /eɪ/ in 'bait' and coupling it with a firm /p/.
US/UK/AU share /ɡeɪp/. The main difference is rhoticity and vowel length: US non-rhotic tendencies have a lighter /r/ influence irrelevant here, while UK and AU remain non-rhotic as well; the diphthong quality may be slightly less centralized in some UK varieties. In many US dialects, /eɪ/ can be more centralized and quicker; in some UK accents, the /eɪ/ tends to be slightly tenser with more movement toward /ɪ/. Australian English typically features a lax, flatter /eɪ/ with less movement than US, but the final /p/ remains unreleased in careful speech.
The difficulty lies in producing a precise /eɪ/ diphthong and a clean /p/ closure without an extraneous vowel or aspirated release. Some learners compress /eɪ/ toward /e/ or replace /p/ with a stop that’s unreleased or aspirated, altering timing and clarity. A steady, deliberate onset with a sharp transition into the /eɪ/ and a crisp /p/ closure helps avoid lisping, mis-tensing, or adding extra air between phonemes.
Gape is a monosyllable with stress on the single syllable. Because there’s only one syllable, you want a strong, even vowel nucleus and a crisp final consonant. Avoid trailing vowels or extra consonant clusters after the /p/. In connected speech, the duration of the /eɪ/ can vary slightly with emphasis, but you should maintain the same primary stress pattern since there is only one syllable.
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Gape comes from the Middle English gape, from Old English gāpian, related to the Proto-Germanic *gaþþōną, meaning to yawn or gape. The core sense of opening the mouth wide or being wide open developed in Middle English, often used to describe literal opening (a mouth, a chasm) or figurative openness (an opportunity). The form and meaning broadened in the 16th–18th centuries as English speakers used gape for visual display of astonishment and to describe things that present a wide opening or breach. Over time, the verb’s dominant modern usage centers on the physical action of opening one’s mouth in surprise or wonder, or describing a gap or opening as startlingly wide. First known usages appear in literary texts of the 14th–16th centuries, with the sense of literal openness appearing early, and the figurative sense becoming common in descriptive prose and poetry by the Early Modern period. The word has retained its core phonology while adopting extended metaphorical uses in contemporary speech and media coverage of dramatic events or landscapes.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Gape" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Gape"
-ape sounds
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