Meaning & use
gorping
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“gorping” is a form of “gorp”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbintransitiveinformalBritishregionalrare
staring at someone with an open mouth in a foolish or rude way.
Grammar: No object; often followed by 'at': 'gorping at the visitors'.
Patterns
- gorp at someone
- gorp at something
Stop gorping at the visitors and get back to work.
The children stood gorping at the magician's tricks.
He was gorping at the screen instead of listening.
verbintransitiveinformalAmericanrare
eating snack food, especially in a casual or greedy way.
Grammar: No object; mostly US informal, from the noun 'gorp' (trail mix).
Patterns
- gorp on something
- gorp all day
They spent the afternoon gorping on nuts and dried fruit.
He was gorping on chips while the film played.
Word forms
| base form | gorp |
|---|---|
| third person singular | gorps |
| past tense | gorped |
| past participle | gorped |
| -ing form | gorping |
Common combinations
- stand gorping
- They just stood gorping at the accident.
- gorp at someone
- It's rude to gorp at people like that.
- gorp on snacks
- We gorped on snacks all the way home.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- gorp noun
- US informal word for trail mix or snack food.
- gorper noun
- Rare; a person who gorps or stares foolishly.
Commonly confused: gorping or gaping? gorping or groping?
gorping vs gaping
Gaping means wide open, as in 'a gaping hole'; gorping is about a person staring foolishly.
gorping vs groping
Groping means feeling around blindly or touching someone inappropriately; it is not the same as staring.
Practice
The tourists just stood ______ at the street performers instead of moving along.
Choose one answer.
After 'stood' we need the -ing form to describe an ongoing action, so 'gorping' is correct. 'Gorped' is past tense and cannot follow 'stood' in this structure.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gorping”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.