gazing

1 definition found

gazing - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Gaze \Gaze\ (g[=a]z), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gazed (g[=a]zd); p.
     pr. & vb. n. Gazing.] [OE. gasen, akin to dial. Sw. gasa,
     cf. Goth. us-gaisjan to terrify, us-geisnan to be terrified.
     Cf. Aghast, Ghastly, Ghost, Hesitate.]
     To fix the eyes in a steady and earnest look; to look with
     eagerness or curiosity, as in admiration, astonishment, or
     with studious attention.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Why stand ye gazing up into heaven?      --Acts i. 11.
  
     Syn: To gape; stare; look.
  
     Usage: To Gaze, Gape, Stare. To gaze is to look with
            fixed and prolonged attention, awakened by excited
            interest or elevated emotion; to gape is to look
            fixedly, with open mouth and feelings of ignorant
            wonder; to stare is to look with the fixedness of
            insolence or of idiocy. The lover of nature gazes with
            delight on the beauties of the landscape; the rustic
            gapes with wonder at the strange sights of a large
            city; the idiot stares on those around with a vacant
            look.
            [1913 Webster]