English▸ verb
1 [with object] produce or provide (a natural, agricultural, or industrial product):
the land yields grapes and tobacco.
▪ produce or generate (a result, gain, or financial return):
this method yields the same results
such investments yield direct cash returns.
2 [no object] give way to arguments, demands, or pressure:
the Western powers now yielded when they should have resisted
he yielded to the demands of his partners.
▪ [with object] relinquish possession of:
they might yield up their secrets
they are forced to yield ground.
▪ [with object] concede (a point of dispute):
I yielded the point.
▪ mainly North American English give right of way to other traffic.
3 [no object] (of a mass or structure) give way under force or pressure:
he reeled into the house as the door yielded.
▸ noun an amount produced of an agricultural or industrial product:
the milk yield was poor.
▪ a financial return:
an annual dividend yield of 20 per cent.
– ORIGIN Old English g(i)eldan ‘pay, repay’, of Germanic origin. The senses ‘produce, bear’ and ‘surrender’ arose in Middle English.