ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Yawn

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /jɔːn/ · Part of speech verb

Quick meaning: Yawn is a verb meaning To say while yawning.

Meaning

To say while yawning.

More Meanings

  1. To present a wide opening; gape.
  2. The action of yawning; opening the mouth widely and taking a long, rather deep breath, often because one is tired or bored.
  3. (colloquial) A particularly boring event.
  4. (intransitive) To open the mouth widely and take a long, rather deep breath, often because one is tired or bored, and sometimes accompanied by pandiculation.
  5. (obsolete) To open the mouth, or to gape, through surprise or bewilderment.
  6. (obsolete) To be eager; to desire to swallow anything; to express desire by yawning.

Example Sentences

Death yawned before us, and I hit the brakes.
“Oh,” Sutherland yawned, “I’m too old for this.”
“I haven’t the least idea what I want to do,” he yawned.
I could see my students yawning, so I knew the lesson was boring them.

Word Forms

Synonyms for yawn

Depending on context, synonyms include gape, yaw.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include gape, yaw, jawn, oscitate, sigh, galp.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.