▪ I. yawning, vbl. n.
(ˈjɔːnɪŋ)
[f. yawn v. + -ing1.]
The action of the verb yawn.
1. The action of opening the mouth wide, esp. involuntarily from drowsiness.
| c 725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) B 23 Barritus, ᵹenung. c 1050 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 412/5 Garrulitas, ᵹeonung. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 536/1 Ȝanynge, or gapynge wythe the mowthe.., hiatus. 1552 Huloet, Yauninge, oscedo. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xv. 69 Those..that be cumbred with much gaping & yawning. 1605 Willet Hexapla Gen. 353 Yawning in trauaile to women is mortall. 1707 Prior Sat. Poets 200 Your Yawning prompts me to give o'er. 1755 Strype Stow's Surv. II. 774/1 Near to this, is a large handsome Monument, erected to the Memory of James Cooper of this Parish, Gent. remarkable for his loud Yawning during the Time of Divine Service. 1838 W. C. Harris Narr. Exped. S. Africa 15 [They] were very slow in taking the hint conveyed by his violent yawnings, that he was anxious to retire to rest. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 98 Abnormal visceral or reflex movements such as paroxysmal hurry of the heart, or of respiration—sneezings, yawnings, or hiccoughings. |
† 2. Longing after (something). Obs.
| 1634 Rainbow Labour (1635) 33 Ambitious yawning after outward dignitie and honour. |
3. The action of opening wide.
| 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. (1859) 7 The yawning of a seam [in a boat]. |
▪ II. yawning, ppl. a.
(ˈjɔːnɪŋ)
[f. yawn v. + -ing2.]
That yawns.
1. That opens the mouth wide, esp. in order to swallow or devour something; chiefly transf. of the mouth, wide open.
| c 890 Wærferth tr. Gregory's Dial. 156 He ᵹemette on þam weᵹe standan sumne dracan onᵹæn hine mid ᵹeniendum [v.r. ᵹiniendum] muþe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 80 Ne blowe ȝe hire nout ut mid maðelinde muðe, ne mid ȝeoniinde tuteles. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 4117 A lyoun þai seye cominde þo,..Wiþ ȝenende [14.. Caius MS. yanyng] mouþe, & weri he was. c 1475 Partenay 5852 An horrible serpent..With a yanyng throte gain hym gan Auaunce. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 187 As thoughe they wolde with yanynge mouthes haue torne in sunder the bealy of the mannes Image. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. i. 73 Now will I dam vp this thy yawning mouth, For swallowing the Treasure of the Realme. 1617 J. Taylor (Water P.) Three Weekes Observ. B iv b, His eies well dried, would make good Tennis-balls,..his yawning mouth would serue for a Conniborrow. 1693 Congreve in Dryden's Juvenal xi. (1697) 289 Large yawning Panthers. |
2. Opening, or open wide, as the earth, a chasm, abyss, etc.
| c 893 ælfred Oros. Contents iii. iii, Hu Marcus Curtius besceat on þa ᵹeniᵹendan [v.r. ᵹyniendan] eorþan. c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xxi. [xix.] (1890) 322 For openre wunde & ᵹeoniendre. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. xi. 35 He..Vpon his crested scalpe so sore did smite, That to the scull a yawning wound it made. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 635 Both Sin, and Death, and yawning Grave. 1780 Cowper Progr. Err. 172 Cards, with what rapture, and the polish'd die, The yawning chasm of indolence supply! 1830 Lyell Princ. Geol. xxiv. I. 420 Many houses were swallowed up by the yawning earth, which closed immediately over them. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. xxv. 363 Strains which, having once rent the ice, tend subsequently to..produce yawning crevasses. 1884 Gilmour Mongols 87 A lofty pass..surrounded with yawning precipices. |
3. That yawns from weariness; transf. characterized by or producing yawning, drowsy, sleepy.
| 1575 Gascoigne Flowers Wks. 1907 I. 58 The stretching armes, y⊇ yauning breath, which I to bedward use. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 204 The sad-ey'd Iustice..Deliuering ore to Executors pale The lazie yawning Drone. 1605 ― Macb. iii. ii. 43 The shard-borne Beetle, with his drowsie hums, Hath rung Nights yawning Peale. 1617 Hieron Wks. II. 108 Many formall, idle, and (as I may call them) yawning requests for mercy. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. Disc. ix. 122 It is impossible to prevent them..any more than we can..refuse to yawn when I see a yawning sleepy person. 1740 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 204 Everyone sees that the yawning husband, and the vapourish wife, are truly insupportable to one another. 1764 Wilkes Corr. (1805) II. 96 The account of the character of Mr. Legge is the most yawning pamphlet I ever read. 1826 Scott Woodst. xv, Here am I..ready to fight, if this yawning fit will give me leave. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxx, The yawning, shaking, peevish figure of the mother. |
Hence ˈyawningly adv.
| 1629 Bp. Hall Hypocrite Wks. 1634 II. 361 Leaning upon your idle elbow yawningly. 1840 Fraser's Mag. XXII. 17 The caliph received..yawningly the countless homages. 1876 R. Broughton Joan i. x, She looks out yawningly towards her friend, the sea. |