Yield

/jiːld/ noun, verb

noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A product.
  • Grammar: yield is listed as noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: return, bear, cede, give in.
  • Useful contrasts: dense crowd push, obdurate, overbearing.
  • Usage evidence: Patients often die simply because they yield to their diseases.

How to use "yield"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "yield" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "yield" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "yield" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "yield" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "yield" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "return" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "yield", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A product. countable, uncountable

    "In the case of countries more favoured by climate than Britain their earliest trade with the foreigner which history has to record is usually in the surface products of the earth—in corn or wine, in the yields of the olive-grove or the orchard."

  2. 2
    production of a certain amount wordnet
  3. 3
    The quantity of something produced.; Measurement of the amount of a crop harvested, or animal products such as wool, meat or milk produced, per unit area of land. countable, uncountable

    "Zucchini plants always seem to produce a high yield of fruit."

  4. 4
    an amount of a product wordnet
  5. 5
    The quantity of something produced.; The harvestable population growth of an ecosystem. countable, uncountable
Show 10 more definitions
  1. 6
    the income or profit arising from such transactions as the sale of land or other property wordnet
  2. 7
    The quantity of something produced.; The amount of product obtained in a chemical reaction. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    the quantity of something (as a commodity) that is created (usually within a given period of time) wordnet
  4. 9
    The quantity of something produced.; The volume of water escaping from a spring. countable, uncountable
  5. 10
    The quantity of something produced.; The explosive energy value of a bomb, especially a nuclear weapon, usually expressed in tons of TNT equivalent. countable, uncountable
  6. 11
    The quantity of something produced.; Profit earned from an investment; return on investment. countable, uncountable

    "A yield curve inversion happens when long-term bond yields fall below short-term bond yields. That rarely occurs. Before this month, that section of the yield curve hadn’t inverted since 2007, just before the Great Recession."

  7. 12
    The quantity of something produced.; The current return as a percentage of the price of a stock or bond. countable, uncountable

    "Investors face a quandary. Cash offers a return of virtually zero in many developed countries; government-bond yields may have risen in recent weeks but they are still unattractive. Equities have suffered two big bear markets since 2000 and are wobbling again. It is hardly surprising that pension funds, insurers and endowments are searching for new sources of return."

  8. 13
    yield strength of a material. countable, material, uncountable
  9. 14
    The situation where a thread relinquishes the processor to allow other threads to execute. countable, uncountable
  10. 15
    Payment; money; tribute. countable, dialectal, obsolete, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.

    "This method generally yields better results."

  2. 2
    end resistance, as under pressure or force wordnet
  3. 3
    To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.; To produce as return from an investment.

    "Historically, that security yields a high return."

  4. 4
    consent reluctantly wordnet
  5. 5
    To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.; To produce as a result.

    "Adding 3 and 4 yields a result of 7."

Show 19 more definitions
  1. 6
    be willing to concede wordnet
  2. 7
    To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.; To produce a particular sound as the result of a sound law.

    "Indo-European p- yields Germanic f-."

  3. 8
    cease opposition; stop fighting wordnet
  4. 9
    To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.; To give in payment; repay, recompense; reward; requite. obsolete

    "God 'ild [yield] you, sir!"

  5. 10
    be flexible under stress of physical force wordnet
  6. 11
    To give up; to surrender or capitulate.; To give as demanded; to relinquish. intransitive, transitive

    "They refuse to yield to the enemy."

  7. 12
    give or supply wordnet
  8. 13
    To give up; to surrender or capitulate.; To give way so as to allow another to pass first. US, especially, intransitive, transitive

    "Yield the right of way to pedestrians."

  9. 14
    cause to happen or be responsible for wordnet
  10. 15
    To give up; to surrender or capitulate.; To give way under force; to succumb to a force. intransitive

    "I put my shoulder into the door, but it did not yield."

  11. 16
    move in order to make room for someone for something wordnet
  12. 17
    To give up; to surrender or capitulate.; Of a running process, to give control back to the operating system so that other processes can be allowed to run. intransitive

    "The system froze because the buggy program got into an infinite loop and didn't yield."

  13. 18
    bring in wordnet
  14. 19
    To give up; to surrender or capitulate.; To pass the material's yield point and undergo plastic deformation.
  15. 20
    give over; surrender or relinquish to the physical control of another wordnet
  16. 21
    To give up; to surrender or capitulate.; To admit to be true; to concede; to allow. rare

    "I yield it just, said Adam, and submit."

  17. 22
    be the cause or source of wordnet
  18. 23
    be fatally overwhelmed wordnet
  19. 24
    give in, as to influence or pressure wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
returnbearcedegive ingive wayharvest

Antonyms

dense crowd pushobdurateoverbearingoverpowering

Example

"Patients often die simply because they yield to their diseases."

Common questions

What does "yield" mean?

A product.

What is a synonym for "yield"?

Common synonyms include: return, bear, cede, give in, give way, harvest.

How do you use "yield" in a sentence?

Patients often die simply because they yield to their diseases.

How do you pronounce "yield"?

Pronounced /jiːld/.

Etymology

Verb from Middle English yielden, yelden, ȝelden (“to yield, pay”), from Old English ġieldan (“to pay”), from Proto-West Germanic *geldan, from Proto-Germanic *geldaną (“to pay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (“to pay”). Cognates Cognate with Scots yield (“to yield”), North Frisian jilden (“to pay”), Saterland Frisian jäilde (“to be valid; matter; count; be worth”), West Frisian jilde (“to pay”), Low German gellen, gelden (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), Dutch gelden (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), German gelten (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), Icelandic gjalda (“to pay, yield, give”), Danish gælde (“to apply, count, be valued, be regarded”), Norwegian Bokmål gjelde. Noun from Middle English ȝeld, from Old English ġield, from Proto-West Germanic *geld, from Proto-Germanic *geldą (“reward, gift, money”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (“to pay”). Cognates Compare West Frisian jild, Dutch geld, Low German and German Geld, Danish gæld, Swedish gäld, Icelandic gjald. See also geld.

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