yawn

[ yawn ]

/ yɔn /

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See synonyms for: yawn / yawning on Thesaurus.com

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR yawn

1-3 gape.

See synonyms for yawn on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of yawn

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 gīna, German gähnen, Latin hiāre “to be wide open, gape,” Greek chaínein “to gape”; cf. hiatus,dehisce, chasm

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH yawn

yawn , yon

Words nearby yawn

Yawata, yawey, yawl, yawl-rigged, yawmeter, yawn, yawner, yawnful, yawning, yawnsome, yawny

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use yawn in a sentence

The team found that lions that saw another member of the pride yawn were about 139 times as likely to yawn themselves within the next three minutes.
Yawning helps lions synchronize their groups’ movements|Jake Buehler|April 6, 2021|Science News
Seeing the lions yawn reminded Palagi of her own work on contagious yawning in primates.
Yawning helps lions synchronize their groups’ movements|Jake Buehler|April 6, 2021|Science News
Watch a group of lions yawn, and it may seem like nothing more than big, lazy cats acting sleepy, but new research suggests that these yawns may be subtly communicating some important social cues.
Yawning helps lions synchronize their groups’ movements|Jake Buehler|April 6, 2021|Science News
So, a yawn could be a good way for an individual in a social species to communicate to group mates that it is experiencing some kind of internal change.
Yawning helps lions synchronize their groups’ movements|Jake Buehler|April 6, 2021|Science News

That yawn is the greatest compliment an inventor can receive.
The unfinished business Jeff Bezos leaves behind at Amazon|Lila MacLellan|February 3, 2021|Quartz
The arcane pair of paragraphs are packed with the sort of yawn-provoking polysyllables that only a lawyer could love.
Brazil’s Rich Ban Biographies Via Arcane Law|Mac Margolis|November 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Civil libertarians are outraged, but elsewhere the news was met with a collective yawn.
Surveillance Program Got You Yawning? Here’s Why You Should Worry|Josh Dzieza|June 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
But so far, the markets have pretty much offered a big yawn.
Cyprus is Imploding, So Why Aren't Markets Freaking Out?|Megan McArdle|March 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He was about to stretch himself and give vent to a noisy yawn when the word “Laidlaw” smote his ear.
The Garret and the Garden|R.M. Ballantyne
Men yawn and cough, chairs and beds are noisily moved about, heavy feet pace stone floors.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
He disliked the audible yawn with which Cash manifested his return from the deathlike unconsciousness of sleep.
Cabin Fever|B. M. Bower
He insisted upon sending for the doctor, who came, striving not to yawn, but to look pleased.
Love's Pilgrimage|Upton Sinclair
We sometimes yawn, and ask, just by way of conversation, Whether Spain will joyn?
Private Letters of Edward Gibbon (1753-1794) Volume 1 (of 2)|Edward Gibbon

British Dictionary definitions for yawn

yawn

/ (jɔːn) /

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 forms of yawn

yawner, 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

yawn

OTHER WORDS FOR yawn

Origin of yawn

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH yawn

Words nearby yawn

Words related to yawn

How to use yawn in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for yawn

Derived forms of yawn

Word Origin for yawn