v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Gazed 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. -- 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 ]

v. t. To view with attention; to gaze on . [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And gazed a while the ample sky. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A fixed look; a look of eagerness, wonder, or admiration; a continued look of attention. [ 1913 Webster ]

With secret gaze
Or open admiration him behold. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The object gazed on. [ 1913 Webster ]

Made of my enemies the scorn and gaze. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

At gaze (a) (Her.) With the face turned directly to the front; -- said of the figures of the stag, hart, buck, or hind, when borne, in this position, upon an escutcheon. (b) In a position expressing sudden fear or surprise; -- a term used in stag hunting to describe the manner of a stag when he first hears the hounds and gazes round in apprehension of some hidden danger; hence, standing agape; idly or stupidly gazing. [ 1913 Webster ]

I that rather held it better men should perish one by one,
Than that earth should stand at gaze like Joshua's moon in Ajalon! Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Humorously formed from gaze. ] A summerhouse so situated as to command an extensive prospect. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Gazing. [ R. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A hound that pursues by the sight rather than by the scent. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) See Gazelle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The black currant; also, the wild plum. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. gazelle, OF. also, gazel; cf. Sp. gacela, Pr. gazella, It. gazella; all fr. Ar. ghaz&unr_;l a wild goat. ] (Zool.) One of several small, swift, elegantly formed species of antelope, of the genus Gazella, esp. G. dorcas; -- called also algazel, corinne, korin, and kevel. The gazelles are celebrated for the luster and soft expression of their eyes. [ Written also gazel. ]

☞ The common species of Northern Africa (Gazella dorcas); the Arabian gazelle, or ariel (G. Arabica); the mohr of West Africa (G. mohr); the Indian (G. Bennetti); the ahu or Persian (G. subgutturosa); and the springbok or tsebe (G. euchore) of South Africa, are the best known. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. View. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]