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View synonyms for

yawn

[ yawn ]

verb (used without object)

  1. to open the mouth somewhat involuntarily with a prolonged, deep inhalation and sighing or heavy exhalation, as from drowsiness or boredom.

    Synonyms:

  2. to open wide like a mouth.

    Synonyms:

  3. to extend or stretch wide, as an open and deep space.

    Synonyms:



verb (used with object)

  1. to say with a yawn.
  2. Archaic. to open wide, or lay open, as if by yawning.

noun

  1. an act or instance of yawning.
  2. an opening; open space; chasm.
  3. Also Informal. something so boring as to make one yawn:

    Critics say the new fashions are one big yawn.

yawn

/ ɔː /

verb

  1. intr to open the mouth wide and take in air deeply, often as in involuntary reaction to tiredness, sleepiness, or boredom
  2. tr to express or utter while yawning
  3. intr to be open wide as if threatening to engulf (someone or something)

    the mine shaft yawned below

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the act or an instance of yawning
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈⲹɲԱ, noun
  • ˈⲹɲԾԲ, adjective
  • ˈⲹɲԾԲly, adverb
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yvlog History and Origins

Origin of yawn1

First recorded before 900; Middle English verb yanen, yonen, alteration of yenen, Old English ge(o)nian; akin to Old English gānian, ginan, Old Norse īԲ, German äԱ, Latin “to be wide open, gape,” Greek íԱ𾱲 “to gape”; hiatus, dehisce ( def ), chasm
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yvlog History and Origins

Origin of yawn1

Old English gionian; related to Old Saxon ō, Old High German ŧ to yawn, Old Norse gap
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Example Sentences

Moments later, things got a little odd as Jason put the headphones on his yawning daughter and asked Travis what he wanted to say to Finn.

From

And if you go, is the employee at checkout yawning because of fatigue or the bubonic plague?

From

Zack Baun’s last name rhymes with yawn, and that was pretty much the reaction a year ago when the Philadelphia Eagles signed him as a free agent out of New Orleans.

From

Newspapers have felt it for decades, part of a system whose fractures have yawned into complete breaks.

From

The US has filled the yawning gaps in European defence, left by years of chronic under-investment after the end of the Cold War.

From

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