yawn

[yawn]

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verb (used without object)

to open the mouth somewhat involuntarily with a prolonged, deep inhalation and sighing or heavy exhalation, as from drowsiness or boredom.
to open wide like a mouth.
to extend or stretch wide, as an open and deep space.

verb (used with object)

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

noun

an act or instance of yawning.
an opening; open space; chasm.
Also yawner. Informal. something so boring as to make one yawn: Critics say the new fashions are one big yawn.

Origin of yawn

before 900; Middle English yanen, yonen (v.), alteration of yenen, Old English ge(o)nian; akin to Old English gānian, ginan, Old Norse gīna, G gähnen, Latin hiāre (see hiatus), Greek chaínein to gape (see chasm)

Can be confusedyawn yon

Synonyms for yawn

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1–3. gape.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for yawn

gape, give, yaw, doze, yawp, spread, nap, part, sleep, snooze, gap, expand, divide, drowse

Examples from the Web for yawn

Contemporary Examples of yawn

My greatest fear is that we will find out they are spying on us, and the American public will yawn.
Big Brother Is Watching Your Cell Phone
Megan McArdle
June 6, 2013
He would read her his poetry, and she would stretch and yawn like a cat.
Baudelaire’s Femme Fatale Muse
James MacManus
May 7, 2013
When it comes to Christian Zionism, the gap between perception and reality continues to yawn wide.
Christian Zionism: An Overdue Reality Check
David Brog
July 10, 2012
Most Americans greeted the end of the Iraq War the same way they responded to the beginning of it—with a shrug and a yawn.
The List: Accounting for the Iraqi Allies America Left Behind
Matt Gallagher
April 24, 2012
“We want to take this around the world,” Gary says, stifling a yawn.
Decentralized Dance Parties: Raves’ Next Wave
Winston Ross
February 3, 2012

Historical Examples of yawn

They passed a frowzy chambermaid, who stared at them with a yawn.
The Greater Inclination
Edith Wharton
We lightly debate, we hesitate, we yawn, unconscious of the brink.
Ruggles of Red Gap
Harry Leon Wilson
"The most agreeable house to me now is my own," I said, with a yawn, and I got up to go.
A Hero of Our Time
M. Y. Lermontov
And for many a cause for which men have suffered and died, posterity has but a yawn.
Mountain Meditations
L. Lind-af-Hageby
It was only half-past ten when she forced a yawn and asked him to get her a taxi.
The Education of Eric Lane
Stephen McKenna

British Dictionary definitions for yawn

yawn

verb

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

noun

the act or an instance of yawning

Derived Formsyawner, nounyawning, adjectiveyawningly, adverb

Word Origin for yawn

Old English gionian; related to Old Saxon ginōn, Old High German ginēn to yawn, Old Norse gjā gap

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

Word Origin and History for yawn

c.1300, yenen, yonen, from Old English ginian, gionian "open the mouth wide, gape," from Proto-Germanic *gin- (cf. Old Norse gina "to yawn," Dutch geeuwen, Old High German ginen, German gähnen "to yawn"), from PIE *ghai- "to yawn, gape" (cf. Old Church Slavonic zijajo "to gape," Lithuanian zioju, Czech zivati "to yawn," Greek khainein, Latin hiare "to yawn, gape," Sanskrit vijihite "to gape, be ajar"). Related: Yawned; yawning.

"act of yawning," 1690s, from yawn (v.). Meaning "boring thing" is attested from 1889.

yawn in Medicine

yawn

[yôn]

To open the mouth wide with a deep inhalation, usually involuntarily from drowsiness, fatigue, or boredom.

The act of yawning.