yawn — to open your mouth wide and breathe in deeply because you are tired or bored
Part of speech: VERB
Definition: to open your mouth wide and breathe in deeply because you are tired or bored
Pronunciation (IPA): /jɔːn/
Example Sentences
- Watching my cat yawn makes me yawn too - it's so contagious!
- The student tried to hide his yawn behind his textbook during the math class
- She yawned so wide that her jaw made a clicking sound
yawn
VERB[/jɔːn/]
to open your mouth wide and breathe in deeply because you are tired or bored
Image coming soon
Got the picture? Now let's practice.
🎤Pronunciation
🌳Etymology
Origin
The word descends from Old English 'gānian', which shares a common Germanic root with related words across the Germanic language family. The universality of yawning as a human behavior led to phonetically similar words developing independently across many languages.
Breakdown
Old English gānian → Middle English yanen → Modern English yawn, with the initial 'g' sound evolving into the 'y' sound through natural phonetic shifts in Middle English.
🎵Rhyme
🔗Collocations
📝Examples
“Watching my cat yawn makes me yawn too - it's so contagious!”
“The student tried to hide his yawn behind his textbook during the math class”
“She yawned so wide that her jaw made a clicking sound”
“The dark cave yawned ominously in front of the explorers”
📚Related Words
Want to master 27,000+ words?
Sign up free for flashcards & quizzes.