yield

verb

\ ˈyēld

yielded; yielding; yields

Definition of yield

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1 archaic : recompense, reward

2 : to give or render as fitting, rightfully owed, or required

3 : to give up possession of on claim or demand: such as

a : to give up (one's breath, life, or spirit) and so die

b : to surrender or relinquish to the physical control of another : hand over possession of

c : to surrender or submit (oneself) to another

d : to give (oneself) up to an inclination, temptation, or habit

e : to relinquish one's possession of (something, such as a position of advantage or point of superiority) yield precedence

4a : to bear or bring forth as a natural product especially as a result of cultivation the tree always yields good fruit

b : to produce or furnish as return this soil should yield good crops

c(1) : to produce as return from an expenditure or investment : furnish as profit or interest a bond that yields 12 percent

(2) : to produce as revenue : bring in the tax is expected to yield millions

5 : to give up (a hit or run) in baseball yielded two runs in the third inning

intransitive verb

1 : to be fruitful or productive : bear, produce

2 : to give up and cease resistance or contention : submit, succumb facing an enemy who would not yield yielding to temptation

3 : to give way to pressure or influence : submit to urging, persuasion, or entreaty

4 : to give way under physical force (such as bending, stretching, or breaking)

5a : to give place or precedence : acknowledge the superiority of someone else

b : to be inferior our dictionary yields to none

c : to give way to or become succeeded by someone or something else

6 : to relinquish the floor of a legislative assembly

yield

noun

Definition of yield (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : something yielded : product especially : the amount or quantity produced or returned yield of wheat per acre

2 : the capacity of yielding produce

Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about yield

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Choose the Right Synonym for yield

Verb

yield, submit, capitulate, succumb, relent, defer mean to give way to someone or something that one can no longer resist. yield may apply to any sort or degree of giving way before force, argument, persuasion, or entreaty. yields too easily in any argument submit suggests full surrendering after resistance or conflict to the will or control of another. a repentant sinner vowing to submit to the will of God capitulate stresses the fact of ending all resistance and may imply either a coming to terms (as with an adversary) or hopelessness in the face of an irresistible opposing force. officials capitulated to the protesters' demands succumb implies weakness and helplessness to the one that gives way or an overwhelming power to the opposing force. a stage actor succumbing to the lure of Hollywood relent implies a yielding through pity or mercy by one who holds the upper hand. finally relented and let the children stay up late defer implies a voluntary yielding or submitting out of respect or reverence for or deference and affection toward another. I defer to your expertise in these matters

synonyms see in addition relinquish

Examples of yield in a Sentence

Verb

The apple trees yielded an abundant harvest. This soil should yield good crops. The seeds yield a rich oil. New methods have yielded promising results in the field. The studies yielded clear evidence. The tax is expected to yield millions. The bond yields seven percent annually. After several hours of debate, the opposition yielded. I yield the floor to the Senator from Maine. I yield to the Senator.

Noun

Our yield of wheat increased this year. The average yield per tree is about one bushel. The yield on government bonds is currently seven percent.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

But the visit may have come too late to yield proof of the claims. — Laurence Norman, WSJ, "U.N. Watchdog Inspects a Site Flagged as Suspicious by Israelis—but Possibly Too Late," 4 Apr. 2019 Also on Friday, The New York Times reported that the Ethiopian jet’s data recorder yielded evidence that a sensor incorrectly triggered the anti-stall system, called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS. — Bernard Condon, The Seattle Times, "Financial pressure mounts to fix Boeing’s troubled jetliner," 1 Apr. 2019 Sabrina is embracing her powers more than ever before, which is yielding some graphic, terrifying new storylines. — Christopher Rosa, Glamour, "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina," 18 Mar. 2019 Those grand experiences always end up yielding the greatest memories — and the greatest romances. — Gianluca Russo, Teen Vogue, "Cole Sprouse on His Most Romantic Date With Lili Reinhart," 17 Mar. 2019 Amazon sells grafted, 4-feet tall avocado trees that may yield fruit in 3-4 years instead of 10. — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, "How to Grow an Avocado Tree From a Pit," 29 Jan. 2019 But if not, we'll be left with a patchwork of coverage across the country, which just yields confusion. — Sarah Jacoby, SELF, "A Federal Judge Blocked the Trump Administration's New Birth Control Rules in 13 States and D.C.," 14 Jan. 2019 Students developed creative fabrication techniques that yielded brilliantly weird, beautiful, and thought-provoking objects. — Diana Budds, Curbed, "The most bizarre and brilliant projects from a Dutch design fair," 5 Nov. 2018 Endless internet searches led me to obsolete state and county edicts, laws from other states that were irrelevant, and misinformation of all stripes that yielded only confusion. — Dennis Eckhoff, Vox, "After my felony conviction, I didn’t know if I could vote. It took me 12 years to find out.," 29 Oct. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

In addition, heavy reliance on variable monsoon rains makes yields unusually volatile. — The Economist, "India’s government claims to subsidise farmers, but actually hurts them," 12 July 2018 Friday’s downturn in stock prices is having some modest spillover effects in the corporate-bond market as traders react to falling Treasury yields and the latest bad economic data out of Europe. — Sam Goldfarb, WSJ, "Corporate Bonds Mostly Weather Storm as Stocks, Treasury Yields Fall," 22 Mar. 2019 And then the amount of herbicides and fungicides that need to be sprayed is far less and more precise, benefiting crop yields and the environment at large. — Henry Robertson, Popular Mechanics, "An App Could Be the Key to Saving Crops from Pests and Pathogens," 4 Dec. 2018 That tweet sent bond yields and the value of the dollar higher ahead of the report. — Ben Popken /, NBC News, "U.S. added 213,000 jobs in June," 6 July 2018 Chemical pesticides became widely used in India after the Green Revolution of the 1960s — Western farming techniques were imported here as a solution to frequent famines, relatively low crop yields and a rapidly increasing population. — Vidhi Doshi, Washington Post, "Goa’s agriculture minister wants farmers to use ‘cosmic farming’ instead of fertilizer," 4 July 2018 The risks for the securities are already seen in the fact that the gap between Italian 10-year yields and those of Spain is at its widest since 2012. — Fortune, "Watch Out: This Could Be the World Economy's Most Important Week of 2018," 11 June 2018 Road sign assist capitalizes on the safety suite’s cameras by recognizing and alerting to certain signs such as stop, yield and speed limits. — Jeff Yip, Houston Chronicle, "2019 Toyota Corolla five-door brings latest safety tech to the masses," 26 May 2018 There also may be consequences for plant life, including lower crop yields and disruptions in the ocean's food chain. — James Griffiths, CNN, "Ozone-destroying emissions are on the rise and scientists don't know why," 16 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'yield.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near yield

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Last Updated

16 Apr 2019

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The first known use of yield was before the 12th century

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More Definitions for yield

yield

noun

Financial Definition of yield

What It Is

Yield refers to the cash return to the owner of a security or investment.

How It Works

In general, yield is calculated as follows:

Periodic Cash Distributions / Total Cost of Investment = Yield

The term yield may refer to slightly different aspects of a return for variable types of investments. For example, a yield on bonds, such as the coupon yield is the annual interest paid on the principal amount of the bond. Current yield is the coupon yield on a bond at a specific point in the time before the bond maturity. A yield to maturity of a bond is the internal rate of return on a bond's cash flow, including the cost of the bonds, period payments from the bonds, if any, and the return of the principal at redemption.

[Use our Yield to Call (YTC) Calculator to measure your annual return if you hold a particular bond until its first call date.]

[Use our Yield to Maturity (YTM) Calculator to measure your annual return if you plan to hold a particular bond until maturity.]

In equities, yields on preferred shares are similar to bond yields. For example, the dividend yield is the total payments in a year from the preferred shares divided by the principal value of the preferred shares. The current yield refers to the annual payments divided by the current market price.

Why It Matters

While yields of various investments do not explain the reasons for the gains and losses, they may mask declines in the underlying value of the assets or the effects of inflation. Using the yield is a convenient way of comparing the returns on various financial investments.

Source: Investing Answers

yield

verb