yawning

noun
UK: /ˈjɔː.nɪŋ/
US: /ˈjɑː.nɪŋ/

  1. The act of opening your mouth wide and breathing in deeply, usually because you are tired or bored.

    1. I couldn't help yawning during the long meeting.
    2. The speaker's monotonous voice had everyone in the audience yawning widely after the first hour.

Synonyms

gaping
yawning verb

  1. To open your mouth wide and breathe in deeply, usually because you are tired or bored.

    1. He was yawning because he was very tired.
    2. She started yawning uncontrollably as the movie dragged on, signaling her exhaustion.

  2. To open wide; gape.

    1. The large hole in the wall was yawning open after the explosion.
    2. A yawning chasm appeared in the earth after the earthquake, swallowing trees and rocks.
yawning adjective

  1. That causes a person to yawn.

    1. The yawning speaker bored everyone.
    2. The film's yawning length tested the audience's endurance, causing many to doze off.

  2. Wide open.

    1. They stared into the yawning abyss.
    2. The yawning mouth of the cave seemed to beckon us forward, promising adventure.

Frequently Asked Questions

The phonetic transcription of "yawning" is /ˈjɔː.nɪŋ/ in British English and /ˈjɑː.nɪŋ/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "yawning": gaping.

Example usage of "yawning": "I couldn't help yawning during the long meeting.". More examples on the page.