gaping

present participle and gerund of gapeform-ofgerundparticiple

Wide open.

• There’s a gaping hole in the fence.

Having the jaw wide open, as in astonishment or stupefaction.

• The men who stood behind the scenes and worked the religious puppet-show by hidden wires to the awe and astonishment of the gaping vulgar.

The act of one who gapes.

• M. Le Gallois considers these gapings, which continue for some time after decapitation, as the vain efforts of the head for respiration.

Something gaping; something agape.

A threat or courtship behavior in animals involving holding the mouth open and displaying the teeth or other interior features.