Definitions
utter a yawn, as from lack of oxygen or when one is tired
Word origin
Partly from Middle English yanen, yonen, yenen (“to yawn”), from Old English ġeonian, ġinian (“to yawn, gape”), from Proto-West Germanic *ginōn, from Proto-Germanic *ginōną (“to yawn”); and partly from Middle English gonen (“to gape, yawn”), from Old English gānian (“to yawn, gape”), from Proto-West Germanic *gainōn, from Proto-Germanic *gainōną (“to yawn, gape”); both from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰi-, *ǵʰeyh₁- (“to yawn, gape”).
Used in a sentence
“I could see my students yawning, so I knew the lesson was boring them.”
“[…] I found my self towards Evening, first empty and sickish at my Stomach, and nearer Night mightily enclin’d to yawning and sleepy […]”
“c. 1773, John Trumbull, The Progress of Dulness, Exeter, New Hampshire: Henry Ranlet, 1794, Part 1, p. 19, And while above he spends his breath, The yawning audience nod beneath.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Sign of sleepiness”4 letters
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