Yawning

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Yawn \Yawn\ (y[add]n), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Yawned}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Yawning}.] [OE. yanien, [yogh]anien, ganien, gonien,
     AS. g[=a]nian; akin to ginian to yawn, g[imac]nan to yawn,
     open wide, G. g[aum]hnen to yawn, OHG. gin[=e]n, gein[=o]n,
     Icel. g[imac]na to yawn, gin the mouth, OSlav. zijati to
     yawn, L. hiare to gape, yawn; and perhaps to E. begin, cf.


     Gr. cheia` a hole. [root]47b. Cf. Begin, Gin to begin,
     {Hiatus}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. To open the mouth involuntarily through drowsiness,
        dullness, or fatigue; to gape; to oscitate. "The lazy,
        yawning drone." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And while above he spends his breath,
              The yawning audience nod beneath.     --Trumbull.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To open wide; to gape, as if to allow the entrance or exit
        of anything.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              't is now the very witching time of night,
              When churchyards yawn.                --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To open the mouth, or to gape, through surprise or
        bewilderment. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. To be eager; to desire to swallow anything; to express
        desire by yawning; as, to yawn for fat livings. "One long,
        yawning gaze." --Landor.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  yawning
       adj 1: gaping open as if threatening to engulf someone or
              something; "the yawning mine shaft"; "a yawning abyss"
       2: with the mouth wide open indicating boredom or sleepiness;
          "a yawning congregation"
       3: showing lack of attention or boredom; "the yawning
          congregation" [syn: {drowsy}, {oscitant}, {yawning(a)}]
       n : 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 ostinancy"
           [syn: {yawn}, {oscitance}, {oscitancy}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  76 Moby Thesaurus words for "yawning":
     abysmal, abyssal, agape, ajar, anesthetized, bottomless,
     cataleptic, cavernous, comatose, deep as hell, dehiscence,
     dehiscent, doped, doziness, dozy, dreamy, drowsiness, drowsy,
     drugged, drugged with sleep, fathomless, gape, gaping, half asleep,
     heaviness, heavy, heavy with sleep, heavy-eyed, in a stupor,
     languid, languor, lethargic, lethargy, napping, narcoleptic,
     narcose, narcotized, narcous, nodding, openmouthed, oscitancy,
     oscitant, oscitation, out of it, pandiculation, plumbless,
     plunging, ringent, sedated, slack-jawed, sleep-drowned,
     sleep-drunk, sleep-filled, sleep-swollen, sleepful, sleepiness,
     sleepy, slumberous, slumbery, snoozy, somnolence, somnolency,
     somnolent, soporific, soundless, stretching, stretchy, stuporose,
     stuporous, the gapes, unfathomable, unfathomed, unsounded,
     without bottom, yawn, yawny