Literary notes about gaping (AI summary)
The term "gaping" is deployed by writers to evoke a powerful visual and emotional impression, frequently serving both literal and metaphorical functions. In some contexts it describes a wide, open physical aperture—such as in landscapes showing shattered walls or cavernous openings ([1], [2], [3])—while in others it captures the vulnerable state of exposure, whether in wounded flesh ([4], [5]), an expression of astonishment or perplexity ([6], [7]), or even in evocative depictions of monstrous features ([8], [9]). By choosing "gaping," authors intensify their imagery, allowing readers to feel both the shock of devastation and the raw openness of experience, transforming simple descriptions into vivid, emotionally charged scenes ([10], [11], [12]).
- It is like a broad red church spire, the top of it being level with the plateau, but a great chasm gaping between.
— from The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle - Soon he redoubled his attack, when another ball having torn away the leafy screen, disclosed a gaping aperture in the granite.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - A grim ashath tree spreads its hungry clutching roots through the gaping fissures of the walls.
— from The gardener by Rabindranath Tagore - Her neck and shoulders were covered with gaping wounds.
— from The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar by Maurice Leblanc - The shot had frightfully lacerated her throat, leaving two gaping wounds from
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - Without a word, she turned and went swiftly up the stairs, whilst I stood like an idiot gaping after her.
— from The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - My grandfather Hammond observed him at the cathedral perched upon his father's shoulders, listening and gaping at the much celebrated preacher.
— from Boswell's Life of Johnson by James Boswell - Its sharp white teeth gleamed in the gaping red mouth, and I could feel its hot breath fierce and acrid upon me.
— from Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker - This terrible lord of the forest, of grim visage and gaping jaws, and famishing with hunger, filleth me with fright.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - Give me a little time beyond my cuff'd head, slumbers, dreams, gaping, I discover myself on the verge of a usual mistake.
— from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman - The widower opened his eyes wide and remained gaping, not comprehending the merchant's meaning.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - Two barefoot urchins, sucking long liquorice laces, halted near him, gaping at his stump with their yellowslobbered mouths.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce
