yawn

yawn — verb

1. to let your mouth open wide while drawing in a deep breath, a natural response t

1.verbintransitiveA2
Definition

to let your mouth open wide while drawing in a deep breath, a natural response to feeling tired or bored

Example

Ryo could not stop yawning during the two-hour lecture on Tuesday afternoon.

yawn + 'could not stop' for involuntary action

The baby yawned and closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep at last.

sequence: yawned, then fell asleep — tiredness trigger

Common collocations
  • yawn widely
  • yawn deeply
  • yawn loudly
  • yawn from exhaustion
  • yawn with boredom
  • fight the urge to yawn
Synonyms
  • gape

    Gape can mean the same physical action of opening the mouth wide, but it often adds a sense of surprise or shock that 'yawn' does not carry.

Grammar Patterns

yawn + (from / with + cause)

yawn + adverb

Usage Note

Often used in continuous forms ('was yawning', 'kept yawning') to describe repeated or prolonged action. A prepositional phrase can follow to state the cause: 'yawn from exhaustion', 'yawn with boredom'.

Common Mistakes

She sighed because she was tired after the long flight.
She yawned because she was tired after the long flight.
Sighing is a different action: a deep breath out through the mouth, usually showing sadness or relief, not a wide-mouth intake of air from tiredness.

2. to be wide open, in a way that suggests danger, threat, or a difficult barrier —

2.verbintransitiveB2
Definition

to be wide open, in a way that suggests danger, threat, or a difficult barrier — for example, a deep crack in the ground or a dark hole in a wall

Example

A deep crack yawned across the road after the earthquake hit the area.

[crack] + yawned across [surface] — physical gap

The cave mouth yawned before them, dark and completely silent.

[opening] + yawned before [someone] — literary

Common collocations
  • yawn open
  • yawn before someone
  • yawn across
  • yawn between
Synonyms
  • gape

    Gape is the more common word for this figurative sense of being wide open. 'Yawn' adds a more literary, slightly dramatic tone, while 'gape' is neutral.

  • open

    Open is a general word without the threat or danger that 'yawn' or 'gape' suggest.

Grammar Patterns

[gap / chasm / opening] + yawns + (open / before + noun phrase)

Usage Note

Used in descriptive or literary writing, not in everyday speech. The subject is typically a physical opening such as a crack, chasm, hole, or tunnel. Often paired with 'open' ('yawned open') or a directional phrase ('yawned before them').

Common Mistakes

The door yawned open when I pushed it.
The door swung open when I pushed it.
'Yawned open' is generally only used for large, natural openings like caves or chasms, not for everyday objects like doors.

yawn — noun

Word family

  • yawned
    verb (past tense)A2
  • yawning
    verb (present participle)A2
  • yawns
    verb (third person singular)A2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/2

Both 'yawn' and 'gape' describe something being wide open, but they differ in tone and typical uses. 'Gape' is the more common word for physical openings — a wound gapes, a mouth gapes in shock, a hole gapes in the ground. It carries a sense of surprise, injury, or unnatural width. 'Yawn' in its figurative sense is more literary and dramatic, often suggesting a threatening or difficult-to-cross barrier: a chasm 'yawns' before a traveller, a crack 'yawns' across a road after a quake. 'Gape' feels more immediate and visible ('a gaping hole in the fence'), while 'yawn' implies depth and a sense of danger or mystery ('a tunnel yawned open before them'). Choosing between them depends on whether you want a neutral description of openness (gape) or a more evocative, almost menacing image (yawn).

yawn ↗gape

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • fight a yawn
  • stifle a yawn
  • with a yawn
  • a bit of a yawn

Prepositions

  • at
  • in front of

Etymology

GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

Yawn comes from Old English gānian, which has roots in the Germanic language family. It is related to the Dutch word geeuwen and the German word gähnen, all of which describe the same action of opening the mouth wide. The figurative sense of 'being wide open' developed later, extending the physical image to landscapes and openings.