'Yawning' definitions:
Definition of 'yawning'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Gaping open as if threatening to engulf someone or something; "the yawning mine shaft"; "a yawning abyss"
adjective
With the mouth wide open indicating boredom or sleepiness; "a yawning congregation"
adjective
Showing lack of attention or boredom; "the yawning congregation" [syn: drowsy, oscitant, yawning(a)]
noun
Definition of 'Yawning'
From: 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]
Synonyms of 'yawning'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- 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