gap
/ɡap
/noun
1A break or hole in an object or between two objects: he peeped through the gap in the curtains...
- Select a tree that is uniformly shaped on all sides without gaps or holes where branches are broken or missing.
- The metal work done on the aft booms was of poor quality, with putty applied in an attempt to cover over gaps around screw holes.
- He watches carefully where he treads so as to avoid some of the bigger holes and gaps between the half-rotten floorboards.
Synonyms
opening, aperture, space, breach, chink, slit, slot, vent, crack, crevice, cranny, cavity, hole, orifice, interstice, perforation, break, fracture, rift, rent, fissure, cleft, divide, discontinuity
technical scission, grike
1.1A pass or way through a range of hills: [as name]: Watford Gap...
- It had to pass through gaps in the high mountain range to reach Wamena.
- The village was built on a hill with deep gaps around it.
- The bison pour through a gap in the hills and are in the corrals in just a few minutes.
2A space or interval; a break in continuity: there are many gaps in our understanding of what happened...
- However a lapse of almost two years since the last scheme has left a gap in continuity.
- What struck him while interviewing him were the gaps in his life story.
- For example, when a nurse cares for two or more patients and must divide attention between them there is a potential for gaps in the continuity of care.
Synonyms
pause, intermission, interval, interlude, delay, break, breathing space, breather, respite, hiatus;
North American recess
omission, blank, blank space, empty space, lacuna, hiatus, void, vacuity
2.1A difference, especially an undesirable one, between two views or situations: the media were bridging the gap between government and people...
- How many times over the years has the music industry played up records bridging the gap between jazz and hip hop?
- But his chances of bridging the gap with only five racing days to go are virtually non-existent.
- Employers are ditching company schemes, yet no-one seems to be bridging the gap with private savings.
Synonyms
chasm, gulf, rift, polarity, split, separation, breach;
contrast, difference, disparity, divergence, variation, variance, imbalance, unevenness
Derivatives
gapped
- Sequences were aligned using ClustalW, and gapped positions were omitted from subsequent analyses.
- Exclusion of Adiantum, Anthocerous, or gapped sites affected only the poorly supported placement of Calycanthus relative to the eudicots in MP, NJ, and ML topologies (data not shown).
- KitMaker has activity templates for: reading comprehension, listening comprehension, gap dictation, fill-the-gaps, gapped sentences, multiple choice, ordered lists and statements, matching lists.
gappy
/ adjective (gappier, gappiest) ...- Cutting a stemmy hedgerow at 2’ - 3’ is not advisable, as it will produce bushy growth at this height, leaving a gappy base.
- I don't know much about how memories develop, but I know that the image of sunlight and big sky through the gappy leaves of eucalyptus has always felt like an old and fundamental image, like something I've looked at and registered all my life.
- Path on left straight across field towards trees, field-edge path by gappy hedge, left when it ends, 50 yards.
Origin
Middle English: from Old Norse, 'chasm'; related to gape.