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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Yawn \Yawn\ (y[add]n), verb (used without an object) [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[=i]nan to yawn, open wide, G. g["a]hnen to yawn, OHG. gin[=e]n, gein[=o]n, Icel. g[=i]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}.]
1. To open the mouth involuntarily through drowsiness, dullness, or fatigue; to gape; to oscitate. ''The lazy, yawning drone.'' --Shak.
And while above he spends his breath, The yawning audience nod beneath. --Trumbull.
2. To open wide; to gape, as if to allow the entrance or exit of anything.
't is now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn. --Shak.
3. To open the mouth, or to gape, through surprise or bewilderment. --Shak.
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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Yawn \Yawn\, noun
1. An involuntary act, excited by drowsiness, etc., consisting of a deep and long inspiration following several successive attempts at inspiration, the mouth, fauces, etc., being wide open.
One person yawning in company will produce a spontaneous yawn in all present. --N. Chipman.
2. The act of opening wide, or of gaping. --Addison.
3. A chasm, mouth, or passageway. [R.]
Now gape the graves, and trough their yawns let loose Imprisoned spirits. --Marston.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
yawn
noun: an involuntary intake of breath through a wide open mouth; usually triggered by fatigue or boredom; "he could not suppress a yawn"; "the yawning in the audience told him it was time to stop"; "he apologized for his ostinancy" [syn: {yawning}, {oscitance}, {oscitancy}]
verb
1: utter a yawn, as from lack of oxygen or when one is tired; "The child yawned during the long performance"
2: be wide open; "the deep gaping canyon" [syn: {gape}, {yaw}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
56 Moby Thesaurus words for "yawn": aperture, boredom, broaching, cavity, chasm, check, clearing, cleft, crack, dehisce, dehiscence, disclosure, doldrums, doze, drowse, ennui, fenestra, fistula, fontanel, foramen, gap, gape, gaping, gat, gulf, hang open, hiatus, hole, hollow, inlet, interval, lacuna, laying open, leak, nap, opening, opening up, orifice, oscitancy, oscitate, oscitation, outlet, pandiculation, passageway, pore, slot, snooze, space, split, stoma, the gapes, throwing open, uncorking, unstopping, yaw, yawning
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