yawn
part of speech
verb (yawn, yawns, yawned, yawning); noun (a yawn, yawns)
meaning for a pupil
1) To yawn means to open your mouth very wide and breathe in deeply, usually because you are tired or bored. tree →
2) A yawn is the act of yawning. tree →
3) Something boring can be called «a yawn». tree →
4) A yawning gap or hole is very wide and open. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science, yawning is a reflex; it is catching (contagious): seeing someone yawn often makes you yawn too, even dogs. In everyday manners, cover your mouth when you yawn. In stories a yawn shows a character is tired or bored. Phrases: «stifle a yawn», «a yawning gap», «what a yawn».
examples
- I yawned all through the long film. tree →
- Cover your mouth when you yawn. tree →
- When Dad yawned, we all started yawning. tree →
- The baby gave a big yawn and fell asleep. tree →
- She tried to stifle a yawn in assembly. tree →
- The cat yawned and showed its sharp teeth. tree →
- That boring speech was a real yawn. tree →
- A yawning hole opened in the road after the flood. tree →
- Then the little Tsar rose upon his feet, stretched himself, and yawned. tree →
note
Regular verb: «yawned». Pronounced YAWN (rhymes with «dawn»). Yawning is not always about sleepiness; it can happen with boredom, nerves or seeing others yawn.
In the corpora
- Vivid example: in Manchester, Freya comes home from a sleepover yawning.
- Caimans and crocodiles bask with their mouths open to let heat escape and cool down; it is not a threat or a yawn.
- Mandrills have very long canine teeth, and a wide yawn shows them off as a warning to rivals.
- Dogs sometimes catch yawns from people, more often from their own owners.
- "Technicolour yawn" is joking Australian slang for vomit.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «yawn» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.