TOP

Definition of yearn verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

yearn

verb
 
/jɜːn/
 
/jɜːrn/
[intransitive] (literary)
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they yearn
 
/jɜːn/
 
/jɜːrn/
he / she / it yearns
 
/jɜːnz/
 
/jɜːrnz/
past simple yearned
 
/jɜːnd/
 
/jɜːrnd/
past participle yearned
 
/jɜːnd/
 
/jɜːrnd/
-ing form yearning
 
/ˈjɜːnɪŋ/
 
/ˈjɜːrnɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. to want something very much, especially when it is very difficult to get synonym long
    • yearn (for something/somebody) The people yearned for peace.
    • There was a yearning look in his eyes.
    • She yearned for children of her own.
    • yearn to do something She yearned to escape from her office job.
    • I’ve always yearned to go stock car racing.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • secretly
    • desperately
    • still
    preposition
    • after
    • for
    See full entry
    Word OriginOld English giernan, from a Germanic base meaning ‘eager’.
See yearn in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
pity
noun
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 5000
B2
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day