Definition

1. Verb:
   • To yawn: To involuntarily open one's mouth wide and inhale deeply, usually due to tiredness, boredom, or a need for oxygen.
   • To gape: To be wide open, like a deep hole or chasm, often suggesting emptiness or a lack of something.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Trong cuộc họp dài, nhiều người bắt đầu ngáp. (During the long meeting, many people started to yawn.)
  • Cô ấy ngáp dài vì thức khuya. (She gave a long yawn because she stayed up late.)
  • Cánh đồng hoang vắng ngáp một không gian mênh mông. (The deserted field gaped with a vast space.)

Advanced Usage

• "ngáp ngủ": to be sleepy, to yawn from sleepiness.

  • Đứa trẻ ngáp ngủ trên ghế sofa. (The child was yawning sleepily on the sofa.)

• "ngáp ngắn ngáp dài": to yawn repeatedly, indicating extreme boredom or fatigue.

  • Học sinh ngáp ngắn ngáp dài trong giờ học cuối ngày. (The students were yawning repeatedly during the last class of the day.)

Variants and Related Words

• Ngáp is primarily used as a verb. There is no direct noun form; the action itself is "a yawn" (cái ngáp).

Different Meanings

1. Literal (Physiological): The physical act of yawning.
2. Figurative (Colloquial): To be in a state of exhaustion, defeat, or lack of resources, often implying helplessness.
   • Công ty đó sắp phải ngáp vì hết vốn. (That company is about to be left gaping/high and dry because it has run out of capital.)

Synonyms

• To yawn: The direct equivalent for the physiological action.
• To gape: To open wide, often used for inanimate objects.

Related Idioms and Expressions

• Chó ngáp phải ruồi: Literally "a dog yawns and catches a fly." It describes an unexpected, often undeserved, piece of luck, usually for someone incompetent.

  • Hắn thắng giải độc đắc thật à? Đúng là chó ngáp phải ruồi! (He won the jackpot? That's a real case of a dog yawning and catching a fly!)

• Ăn bánh ngáp: A slang idiom meaning to have nothing to eat, to go hungry.

  • Nếu không tìm được việc, chúng tôi sẽ phải ăn bánh ngáp mất. (If we don't find jobs, we'll have to eat "yawn bread"/go hungry.)

1. động từ. to yawn; to gape; to give a yawn