yawning
UKˈjɔːnɪŋUSˈjɔːnɪŋ
Meaning
1adj.
打哈欠的；张得很开的；令人厌倦的
2n.
打哈欠的行为
Usage
The lecture was so dull that it left the audience with yawning indifference.
讲座如此枯燥，让听众报以令人厌倦的冷漠。
He tried to hide his yawning mouth behind his hand during the meeting.
开会时，他试图用手遮住他打哈欠的嘴。
There was a yawning gap between their political ideologies.
他们的政治意识形态之间存在着巨大的鸿沟。
Etymology
yawning 的核心是 yawn，一个非常古老的拟声词，它直接模仿了打哈欠时张嘴的动作和可能发出的声音。后缀 -ing 将其变为形容词或名词，描述“正在打哈欠”的状态或“打哈欠”这一行为本身。因此，其现代含义“打哈欠的”或“张得很开的”非常直接地来源于其核心动作。