yawn Hear it!

yawn definition

yawn (yôn)

intransitive verb

  1. to open the mouth wide, esp. involuntarily, and breathe in deeply, as a result of fatigue, drowsiness, or boredom
  2. to be or become wide open; gape a yawning chasm

Etymology: ME yanen, prob. merging OE ginian & ganian, to gape, akin to Ger gähnen < IE base *ĝhei-, to gape, prob. echoic of the yawning sound > Gr chainein, L hiare, to gape

transitive verb

to express or utter with a yawn

noun

  1. an act of yawning or opening wide
  2. a wide opening; chasm

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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