gaze
//ɡeɪz//
Forms
- present (v1)
- gaze
- past (v2)
- gazed
- past participle (v3)
- gazed
- present participle
- gazing
- 3rd person singular
- gazes
- Plural
- gazes
Definitions
1.To stare intently or earnestly.
- They gazed at the stars for hours.
- Why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
- She just sat there very straight, gazing across the moon-washed garden.
2.To stare at.
1.A fixed look; a look of eagerness, wonder, or admiration; a continued look of attention.
- Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.
2.In Lacanian psychoanalysis, the relationship of the subject with the desire to look and awareness that one can be viewed.
- She counters the tendency to focus on critical strategies of resisting the male gaze, raising the issue of the female spectator.
3.The framework in which a subject is presented, determined by the biases of the creator and/or audience.
- The American panorama is indicative of the nation's expansion westward and an example of the American gaze.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #3790
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Uncommon
Related words
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English gasen; akin to Swedish dialectal gasa and Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (usgaisjan, “to terrify”).