yawning
Americanadjective
-
being or standing wide open; gaping.
the yawning mouth of a cave.
-
indicating by yawns one's weariness or indifference.
The lecturer was oblivious to his yawning audience.
Other Word Forms
- yawningly adverb
Etymology
Origin of yawning
before 900; Middle English; Old English geniendum. See yawn, -ing 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Several men on the jury looked away, one yawning.
From Los Angeles Times
Hart keeps up a steady stream of anecdotes and witty repartee, but increasingly the mask slips; underneath it all is the yawning realization that he is utterly alone.
From Barron's
He also faces the challenge of closing a yawning budget deficit for the coming fiscal year.
His long naps seemed in tune with the Very, Very Far North’s yawning quiet, as if the world was already napping and he was just joining in.
From Literature
Germany's chancellor has touched down in China as German businesses sound the alarm about a yawning trade imbalance.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
