178. Gapen

1. to yawn [verb] [gaapte, gegaapt]

"Gapen" has appeared earlier in DWOTD 89. Slapen.

Examples:
- "Ik kon vanochtend niet ophouden met gapen."
("I couldn’t stop yawning this morning." Literally: "…stop with yawning.")

- "Frank zat tijdens de vergadering de hele tijd te gapen."
("During the meeting, Frank was yawning all the time." Note that "Frank zat…te gapen" (lit.: "Frank sat to yawn") is translated with "Frank was yawning"; it is a common construction in Dutch.)

- "Ik moet enorm gapen van deze slaapverwekkende film."
("I really have to yawn due to this dead boring movie." Literally: "…from this sleep generating movie.")

Related words:
1. "Slapen": to sleep.
2. "Slaperig": sleepy.
3. "Slaapkop": sleepy head.
4. "Dromen": to dream.
5. "Uitrekken": to stretch.

Extra:
Some old Dutch houses have an ornament which is a stone man’s head with a wide opened mouth. They used to indicate that a pharmacy resided in the building. Such a stone head is called a Gaper ("Yawner") in Dutch, obviously because of the wide opened mouth…(which is actually open for taking in medicine…)

2. to gape [verb] [gaapte, gegaapt]

Example:
- "De gapende menigte had zich verzameld rond het gebouw dat in brand stond."
("The gaping crowd had gathered around the building that was on fire."  Lit.: "…that stood on fire.")

Related word:
1. "zich vergapen aan": to gape at.

Example:
"De menigte vergaapte zich aan de sterren op de rode loper."
("The crowd was gaping at the stars on the red carpet.")

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