From root: hikab
Usage Note
Paghihikab refers to the repetitive or ongoing action of yawning. It is often mentioned when describing someone who is struggling to stay awake.
Examples
" Hindi mapigilan ang paghihikab ko. "
Natural Translation
I cannot stop my yawning.
Literal Translation
Not can-be-stopped the yawning my.
" Nakakahawa ang paghihikab. "
Natural Translation
Yawning is contagious.
Literal Translation
Contagious the act-of-yawning.
" Sa kalagitnaan ng mahabang miting, nakita ng amo ang paghihikab ng mga empleyadong puyat mula kagabi. "
Natural Translation
In the middle of the long meeting, the boss noticed the yawning of the employees who had stayed up all night.
Literal Translation
In middle of long meeting, saw of boss the yawning of the employees-that sleepless from last-night.
Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.
How Tagalog words workWord family
hikab has 6 related forms built from the same root.
Related Words
Explore Tagalog by topic
Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.

Tagalog Word Order: Sentence Structure Made Simple
Why Tagalog puts the verb first, and how ang, ng, and sa markers work. A clear guide to VSO word order, forming questions, and negation.

Philippine Christmas Traditions: World's Longest Holiday
Philippine Christmas traditions run four months — from Ber-month carols to Simbang Gabi dawn masses, Noche Buena feasts, and parol lanterns lighting every street.

Po and Opo in Tagalog: Where to Put Them Right
Po and opo confuse learners — but placement follows one rule. Where po goes in a sentence, why it's opo not 'oo po', and the pronoun shift to learn.

Languages of the Philippines: Tagalog, Cebuano, and More
Languages of the Philippines: one national language (Filipino) plus 180+ regional languages. Here's who speaks what, where, and why it matters to you.