0 past simple and past participle of yearn --
1 to wish very strongly, especially for something that you cannot have or something that is very difficult to have: --
[ + to infinitive ] Sometimes I just yearn to be alone.
Despite his great commercial success he still yearns for critical approval.
He yearned for a freer existence in which he could create for the sheer joy of creating.
When she lived with her great-grandmother, playing in a village that had many streams, she yearned to become a teacher and a policewoman.
Although he yearned for an active role, his youthful health woes caused the draft board to mark him for limited service.
His heart yearned for the public interest.
They yearned for freedom throughout that period.
I do not wonder that he yearned for recognition from his colleagues.
He yearned as a man who wanted to see conciliation before his hour struck; he laboured for it.
Naturally, because of their limited freedom, they yearned to walk among those hills.
