Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - gasp

~1 v 1 to breathe in suddenly, quickly, and in a way that can be heard, especially because you are surprised or afraid  ("My leg! My leg!" he gasped. "I think it's broken!")  (Ollie gasped with pain and slumped forward.) + a  (The audience gasped at the splendour of the costumes.) 2 to breathe quickly and deeply because you are having difficulty breathing  (gasp for air/breath)  (Brendan climbed slowly, gasping for breath.) 3 be gasping BrE spoken to be very thirsty  (Put the kettle on, love, I'm gasping.) 4 be gasping for BrE spoken to feel that you urgently need something such as a drink or cigarette  (I'm gasping for a pint!) ~2 n 1 an act of taking in your breath suddenly in a way that can be heard, especially because you are surprised or afraid + of  (With a gasp of pure horror, Stormgren jumped up and ran.) give a gasp  (She gave a little gasp and clutched George's hand.) 2 an act of taking in air quickly because you are having difficulty breathing  (Between gasps Michael said that he was allergic to cats.) 3 at your last gasp about to die  (He rolled his eyes as though at his last gasp.)