yawp
Americanverb (used without object)
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to utter a loud, harsh cry; to yelp, squawk, or bawl.
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Slang. to talk noisily and foolishly or complainingly.
noun
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a harsh cry.
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Slang.
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raucous or querulous speech.
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a noisy, foolish utterance.
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verb
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to gape or yawn, esp audibly
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to shout, cry, or talk noisily; bawl
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to bark, yelp, or yowl
noun
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a shout, bark, yelp, or cry
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a noisy, foolish, or raucous utterance
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of yawp
1300–50; Middle English yolpen; akin to yelp
Explanation
To yawp is to cry out or whine loudly. Don't yawp over spilled milk; just clean it up. The harsh sound of a yawp is similar to a yelp — your new puppy might yawp from his crate when you put him to bed at night. People yawp too, calling out in despair or victory or anger. The most famous instance of the word yawp is probably Walt Whitman's, in Leaves of Grass. In the section of his celebrated poem called "Song of Myself," he writes: "I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.”
Vocabulary lists containing yawp
"Song of Myself," Vocabulary from the poem
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For every love ballad there’s a “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” a mournful yawp on the Irish Troubles that was actually written by U2 guitarist the Edge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2022
Here in stone and glass and wood was an eruption of human potential – a victorious yawp in the face of benightedness.
From Fox News ● Apr. 16, 2019
Today, those songs sound perplexingly catchy and maybe even influential — they seem to foreshadow the Auto-Tuned yawp of Young Thug, the incessant chatter of the Minions and plenty of digitally processed babble in between.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 14, 2017
It’s a tune of stoical yearning, the yawp of a dude bemoaning the end of a seasonal romance.
From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2016
Tiny runs up to us and puts a paw on each of our shoulders and lets forth a yawp of joy.
From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
