gasp

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English gaspen, also gaispen,^[2][3][4] probably borrowed from Old Norse geispa (“to yawn, gape”).^{[3][5][6][7][8][2]} The OED takes it from early Scandinavian, comparing Norwegian Nynorsk geispa (“to yawn”), Norwegian gjespe, Old Swedish gespa (“to yawn, gape”) and Swedish gäspa (“to yawn, gape, gasp”),^[8] and Barnhart adds Danish gispe (“to gasp”).^[9] Both note a difficulty: the English spelling gasp is fixed from the first records, and the OED finds the predominance of the form without a diphthong surprising.^[10][8] The Scandinavian verb is probably a derivative, with an s-suffix and metathesis, of the base of Old Norse geipa (“to talk idly”), so from an older *geipsa;^[8][7][6][4] a variant of the same base appears in Old English gipian (“to gape”) and gipung (“open mouth”).^[8][7] The OED suggests that it may ultimately share an Indo-European base with Latin hiō (“to gape”), the source of hiatus.^[8] Merriam-Webster relates it more loosely to yawn,^[11] Etymonline to gape and gap,^[12] and Skeat compares Dutch gijpen (“to gasp”).^[13] Dictionary.com instead posits an unrecorded Old English verb beside the Norse one.^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

To open the mouth wide, to gape, and also to breathe out: before 1393, in Gower's Confessio Amantis, where a woman "gaspeth with a drecchinge onde".^[2][8][10]

Semantic evolution

The verb soon came to mean drawing or letting out breath convulsively, from distress, effort or surprise,^[8] and since 1522, in Gavin Douglas's Virgil, it could take an object, such as the air breathed.^[8] To gasp for something, to crave it, is recorded from 1553,^[8] and the literal gasp for breath from 1697, in Dryden.^[8] The noun appears before 1529, in Skelton's Magnyfycence,^[8] or in the 1570s according to Etymonline,^[12] and its earliest common use was in the phrase last gasp, the final breath before death, recorded from 1564;^[8][12] Johnson (1755) quoted Shakespeare's Cymbeline for "at last gasp".^[15] To gasp up the ghost, to die, was used from 1577 to 1884, or from the 1530s according to Etymonline.^[8][12] From before 1616 the verb could also mean to utter something breathlessly.^[8] In British colloquial use to be gasping is to be very thirsty or to crave a cigarette (1958),^[8] and since 1968 gasp! has been written to express mock shock.^[8][11] In Ireland and Bedfordshire dialect the verb meant "to yawn".^[16] Gasper was army slang for a cigarette,^[4] and in British slang a gasp is a cigarette or a drink of spirits.^[17]

Timeline

• before 1393 – to open the mouth wide, gape; to breathe out, in Gower.^[8][2][10]
• before 1522 – transitive, to breathe something in or out with a gasp.^[8]
• before 1529 – noun, a convulsive catch of breath.^[8]
• 1553 – gasp for, to crave.^[8]
• 1564 – last gasp, the final breath.^[8]
• 1577 – gasp up the ghost, to die (obsolete by 1884).^[8]
• before 1616 – to utter with a gasp.^[8]
• 1697 – gasp for breath.^[8]
• 1958 – British colloquial to be gasping, to be very thirsty.^[8]
• 1968 – interjection, expressing mock shock.^[8][11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To draw in breath suddenly and audibly, as from shock, pain or surprise: The audience gasped when the bridge collapsed.^[18][11][8]
2. To breathe with difficulty; to pant.^[11][8]
3. To say something breathlessly: “Get the doctor,” he gasped.^[18][8]
4. gasp for: to long for or crave something.^[18][8]
5. be gasping (British, informal): to be very thirsty, or in need of a cigarette.^[8]

Noun

1. A short, sudden intake of breath: a gasp of horror.^[18][11][8]
2. A short burst of speech uttered breathlessly.^[18][11]
3. at the last gasp: at the point of death, or at the last possible moment.^[18][8]

Interjection

1. Used in writing to express pretended shock or surprise.^[11][8]

Word family

• gaspingly

Related words

• gape
• yawn
• hiatus
• gasper

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
17. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
18. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins