Gasping

How to spell gasping

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce gasping

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does gasping mean?

1. verbCatching the breath with difficulty, in short laboured gulps, often from exertion, shock, or lack of air.

Gasping in a sentence

• After sprinting for the train, he was gasping on the platform.

• The swimmer surfaced gasping for air.

Where does gasping come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

The base word gasp comes from Old Norse, from the verb geispa, which literally meant 'to yawn' or to open the mouth wide. Norse settlers brought the word into northern England during the early medieval period, and by the late 1300s Middle English had it as gaspen, used for drawing in breath with an open mouth in shock, exhaustion, or pain. The original sense of opening the mouth shifted naturally toward the idea of struggling for air, which is how we use it today. The present participle gasping simply adds the regular -ing ending. Because the word ends in a single p preceded by a consonant cluster, no consonant is doubled, so the spelling stays gasping rather than gaspping, which is the only point a writer needs to watch.

How the word is built

• gasp (catch the breath)
• -ing (present participle / gerund suffix)