I. ˈyȯn, ˈyän verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English yanen, yanien, alteration (influenced by ganen to gape, yawn, from Old English gānian ) of yenen, yonen, yeonien, from Old English ginian, geonian; akin to Old English gīnan to yawn, Old High German ginēn, geinōn, Old Norse gīna, Latin hiare, Greek chainein, Old Slavic zijati
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to gape cavernously : present a wide gulf or breach
this yawning fissure may plunge 50 feet or more — G.W.Long
the vast gap that yawned between the gentleman officer and the common seaman — Mary A. Hamilton
b. : to open up
stood staring at the floor, as if gazing into a pit which had yawned suddenly before his eyes — Marcia Davenport
2.
a. : to take a deep breath with the jaws widespread usually as an involuntary reaction to fatigue or boredom
close the book, yawn , and go to bed
both hens and turkeys yawn , especially at roosting time — W.P.Blount
b. archaic : to stare openmouthed (as in awe or terror)
methinks it should be now a great eclipse … and that the affrighted globe should yawn at alteration — Shakespeare
transitive verb
1. archaic
a. : to cause to open
stood beside the murderer's bed, and yawned her ghastly wound — Robert Southey
b. : to make or proffer by opening
2.
a. : to utter with a yawn
yawn a reply
b. : to accomplish with or impel by yawns
yawned my way through … French — Malcolm Cowley
have long been laughed or yawned out of court — A.L.Guérard
II. noun
( -s )
1. : an unfilled opening : gap , cavity
struck lightly and … lay still, staring up at an oblong yawn that closed with a clattering vibration of loose planks — William Faulkner
leaning … over the yawn of a grave to scatter his handful of earth — Elizabeth Bowen
2.
a. : a deep usually involuntary intake of breath through the wide open mouth
a dull speech greeted with yawns
the telltale yawn of the addict who needs a shot — Time
b. : dullness , tedium
their zeal was quickly blunted by the yawn of habit around them — Bruce Marshall