Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (v. i.) To open the mouth wide in catching the breath, or in laborious respiration; to labor for breath; to respire convulsively; to pant violently.

2. (v. i.) To pant with eagerness; to show vehement desire.

3. (v. t.) To emit or utter with gasps; -- with forth, out, away, etc.

4. (n.) The act of opening the mouth convulsively to catch the breath; a labored respiration; a painful catching of the breath.