Gasp (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gasped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Gasping.] [OE. gaspen, gaispen, to yawn, gasp, Icel. geispa to yawn; akin to Sw. gaspa, Dan. gispe to gasp.]
1.
To open the mouth wide in catching the breath, or in laborious respiration; to labor for breath; to respire convulsively; to pant violently.
She gasps and struggles hard for life.
Lloyd.
2.
To pant with eagerness; to show vehement desire.
Quenching the gasping furrows' thirst with rain.
Spenser.
© Webster 1913.
Gasp, v. t.
To emit or utter with gasps; -- with forth, out, away, etc.
And with short sobs he gasps away his breath.
Dryden.
© Webster 1913.
Gasp, n.
The act of opening the mouth convulsively to catch the breath; a labored respiration; a painful catching of the breath.
At the last gasp, at the point of death.
Addison.
© Webster 1913.