(yɔn ) Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense yawns, present participle yawning, past tense, past participle yawned. intransitive verb. If you yawn, you open your mouth very wide and breathe in more air than usual, often when you are tired or when you are not interested in something.

ˈyȯn, ˈyän. : to open the mouth wide and take a deep breath usually as an involuntary reaction to fatigue or boredom. yawn. 2 of 2 noun. : an opening of the mouth wide while taking a deep breath often as an involuntary reaction to fatigue or boredom.

Examples from Collins dictionaries She yawned, and stretched lazily. They looked bored and yawned at the speeches. Rosanna stifled a huge yawn. The debate was a mockery.

Yawning is such a powerfully empathetic behavior that even just reading about it (and therefore thinking about it) can trigger a yawn. Professor Provine, a contagious behavior wonk who literally wrote the book on yawning, sees the humble yawn as one of the ultimate expressions of human empathy.