Definitions for YAWN
yɔnyawn

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. yawn, yawning, oscitance, oscitancyverb

   an involuntary intake of breath through a wide open mouth; usually triggered by fatigue or boredom

   "he could not suppress a yawn"; "the yawning in the audience told him it was time to stop"; "he apologized for his oscitancy"

2. yawnverb

   utter a yawn, as from lack of oxygen or when one is tired

   "The child yawned during the long performance"

3. gape, yawn, yawverb

   be wide open

   "the deep gaping canyon"

WiktionaryRate this definition:2.0 / 1 vote

1. yawnnoun

   The action of yawning; opening the mouth widely and taking a long, rather deep breath, often because one is tired.

2. yawnnoun

   A particularly boring event.

   The slideshow we sat through was such a yawn, I was so glad when it finally finished.

3. yawnverb

   To open the mouth widely and take a long, rather deep breath, often because one is tired and sometimes accompanied by pandiculation.

   I could see my students yawning, so I knew the lesson was boring.

4. yawnverb

   To present an opening that appears able to swallow one up, literally or metaphorically:

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Yawnnoun

   Oscitation.

   Etymology: from the verb.

   Thee, Paridel, she mark’d thee, there
   Stretch’d on the rack of a too easy chair;
   And heard thy everlasting yawn confess
   The pains and penalties of idleness. Alexander Pope, Dunciad.

   2. Gape; hiatus.

   Hence to the borders of the marsh they go,
   That mingles with the baleful streams below;
   And sometimes with a mighty yawn, ’tis said,
   Opens a dismal passage to the dead,
   Who, pale with fear, the rending earth survey,
   And startle at the sudden flash of day. Addison.

2. To YAWNverb

   Etymology: yeonan , Saxon.

   1. To gape; to oscitate; to have the mouth opened involuntarily by fumes, as in sleepiness.

   The sad-ey’d justice, with his surly hum,
   Delivering o’er to executors pale
   The lazy, yawning drone. William Shakespeare, Hen. V.

   In yawning, the inner parchment of the ear is extended. When a man yawneth, he cannot hear so well. Francis Bacon.

   At length shook off himself, and ask’d the dame;
   And asking yawn’d, for what intent she came? Dryden.

   To whom the yawning pilot fast asleep,
   Me didst thou bid, to trust the treacherous deep? Dryden.

   2. To open wide.

   The gashes,
   That bloodily did yawn upon his face. William Shakespeare.

   ’Tis now the very witching time of night,
   When churchyards yawn. William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

   Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth,
   For swallowing up the treasure of the realm. William Shakespeare.

   He shall cast up the wealth by him devour’d,
   Like vomit, from his yawning entrails pour’d. George Sandys.

   Hell at last
   Yawning receiv’d them whole, and on them clos’d. John Milton.

   The sword pierc’d his tender sides;
   Down fell the beauteous youth; the yawning wound
   Gush’d out a purple stream. Dryden.

   High she rear’d her arm, and with her sceptre struck
   The yawning cliff: from its disparted height
   Adown the mount the gushing torrent ran. Matthew Prior.

   3. To express desire by yawning.

   The chiefest thing at which lay-reformers yawn, is, that the clergy may, through conformity in condition, be poor as the apostles were. In which one circumstance, if they imagine so great perfection, they must think that church which hath such store of mendicant friars, a church in that respect most happy. Richard Hooker.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Yawn

   A yawn is a reflex lasting 4–7 seconds, and is characterized by a long inspiratory phase with gradual mouth gaping, followed by a brief climax (or acme) with muscle stretching, and a rapid expiratory phase with muscle relaxation. For fish and birds, this is described as gradual mouth gaping, staying open for at least 3 seconds and subsequently a rapid closure of the mouth. Almost all vertebrate animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and even fish, experience yawning. The study of yawning is called chasmology.Yawning (oscitation) most often occurs in adults immediately before and after sleep, during tedious activities and as a result of its contagious quality. It is commonly associated with tiredness, stress, sleepiness, boredom, or even hunger. In humans, yawning is often triggered by the perception that others are yawning (for example, seeing a person yawning, or talking to someone on the phone who is yawning). This is a typical example of positive feedback. This "contagious" yawning has also been observed in chimpanzees, dogs, cats, birds, and reptiles and can occur between members of different species. Approximately twenty psychological reasons for yawning have been proposed by scholars but there is little agreement on the primacy of any one.During a yawn, muscles around the airway are fully stretched, including chewing and swallowing muscles. Due to these strong repositioning muscle movements, the airway (lungs and throat) dilates to three or four times its original size. The tensor tympani muscle in the middle ear contracts, which creates a rumbling noise perceived as coming from within the head; however, the noise is due to mechanical disturbance of the hearing apparatus and is not generated by the motion of air. Yawning is sometimes accompanied, in humans and other animals, by an instinctive act of stretching several parts of the body including the arms, neck, shoulders and back.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. yawn

   A yawn is an involuntary reflex action where the mouth is opened wide, and the lungs take in a lot of air. This action is often triggered by tiredness or boredom, and is usually contagious, often spreading to people in the same group or area.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Yawnverb

   to open the mouth involuntarily through drowsiness, dullness, or fatigue; to gape; to oscitate

2. Yawnverb

   to open wide; to gape, as if to allow the entrance or exit of anything

3. Yawnverb

   to open the mouth, or to gape, through surprise or bewilderment

4. Yawnverb

   to be eager; to desire to swallow anything; to express desire by yawning; as, to yawn for fat livings

5. Yawnnoun

   an involuntary act, excited by drowsiness, etc., consisting of a deep and long inspiration following several successive attempts at inspiration, the mouth, fauces, etc., being wide open

6. Yawnnoun

   the act of opening wide, or of gaping

7. Yawnnoun

   a chasm, mouth, or passageway

8. Etymology: [OE. yanien, anien, ganien, gonien, AS. gnian; akin to ginian to yawn, gnan to yawn, open wide, G. ghnen to yawn, OHG. ginn, geinn, Icel. gna to yawn, gin the mouth, OSlav. zijati to yawn, L. hiare to gape, yawn; and perhaps to E. begin, cf. Gr. cheia` a hole. 47b. Cf. Begin, Gin to begin, Hiatus.]

WikidataRate this definition:3.0 / 1 vote

1. Yawn

   A yawn is a reflex of simultaneous inhalation of air and stretching of the eardrums, followed by exhalation of breath. Pandiculation is the act of yawning and stretching simultaneously. Yawning is commonly associated with tiredness, stress, overwork, lack of stimulation and boredom, though recent studies show it may be linked to the cooling of the brain. In humans, yawning is often triggered by others yawning and is a typical example of positive feedback. This "infectious" yawning has also been observed in chimpanzees and dogs. Yawn comes from Old English 'Ginian' and 'Gionian' meaning to "Open the mouth wide, gape," which in turn comes from the Proto-Germanic base gin-.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Yawn

   yawn, v.i. to open the jaws involuntarily from drowsiness: to gape: to gape with astonishment.—n. the opening of the mouth from drowsiness.—adj. Yawn′ing, gaping: opening wide: drowsy.—n. act of opening wide or gaping: a modification of the ordinary movements of respiration, in which the inspiration is deeper than usual, accompanied by a kind of spasmodic contraction of the muscles which depress the lower jaw, and by a great elevation of the ribs and to some degree of the shoulder-blades.—adv. Yawn′ingly. [A.S. gánian, to yawn—gínan, pa.t. gán, to gape widely; Ice. gína, to gape, Gr. chainein, to gape.]

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. yawn

   The yawn symbol -- In this Symbols.com article you will learn about the meaning of the yawn symbol and its characteristic.

2. YAWN

   What does YAWN stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the YAWN acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. YAWN

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Yawn is ranked #12399 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Yawn surname appeared 2,507 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Yawn.
   
   90.7% or 2,276 total occurrences were White.
   4.8% or 122 total occurrences were Black.
   2% or 51 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   1% or 27 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   0.7% or 18 total occurrences were Asian.
   0.5% or 13 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

1. • Be
   • Breathe

Anagrams for YAWN »

1. awny

2. wany

How to pronounce YAWN?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say YAWN in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of YAWN in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of YAWN in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of YAWN in a Sentence

1. Charles Hendrickson Brower:

   A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn it can be stabbed to death by a joke or worried to death by a frown on the right person's brow.

2. Jack Kerouac:

   The only people for me are the mad ones. The ones who are mad to love, mad to talk, mad to be saved the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.

3. James Dean:

   I’d rather have people hiss than yawn.

4. Gerd de Ley:

   When the silent majority opens its mouth it is usually to yawn.

5. Lewis Grizzard:

   Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=YAWN
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Yawn
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=YAWN
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yawn
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/YAWN
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=YAWN
8. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=YAWN
9. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
   https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html