- yet
- [[t]je̱t[/t]]
♦1) ADV: usu with brd-neg, ADV with v, ADV group You use yet in negative statements to indicate that something has not happened up to the present time, although it probably will happen. You can also use yet in questions to ask if something has happened up to the present time. In British English the simple past tense is not normally used with this meaning of `yet'.
They haven't finished yet...
No decision has yet been made...
She hasn't yet set a date for her marriage...
`Has the murderer been caught?' - `Not yet.'...
Have you met my husband yet?...
Hammer-throwing for women is not yet a major event.
Syn:as yet2) ADV: usu with brd-neg, ADV with v, ADV group You use yet with a negative statement when you are talking about the past, to report something that was not the case then, although it became the case later.There was so much that Sam didn't know yet...
He had asked around and learned that Billy was not yet here.
3) ADV: with brd-neg, ADV with v If you say that something should not or cannot be done yet, you mean that it should not or cannot be done now, although it will have to be done at a later time.Don't get up yet...
The hostages cannot go home just yet...
We should not yet abandon this option for the disposal of highly radioactive waste.
4) ADV: n ADV, ADV adv/-ed, ADV after superl You use yet after a superlative to indicate, for example, that something is the worst or the best of its kind up to the present time.This is the BBC's worst idea yet...
Her latest novel is her best yet.
...one of the toughest warnings yet delivered.
5) ADV: ADV before v You can use yet to say that there is still a possibility that something will happen.Like the best stories, this one may yet have a happy end...
A negotiated settlement might yet be possible.
Syn:6) ADV: n ADV You can use yet after expressions which refer to a period of time, when you want to say how much longer a situation will continue for.Unemployment will go on rising for some time yet...
Nothing will happen for a few years yet...
They'll be ages yet.
7) ADV: ADV to-inf If you say that you have yet to do something, you mean that you have never done it, especially when this is surprising or bad.She has yet to spend a Christmas with her husband...
He has been nominated three times for the Oscar but has yet to win.
8) CONJ-COORD You can use yet to introduce a fact which is rather surprising after the previous fact you have just mentioned.I don't eat much, yet I am a size 16...
They were terrified James would die - yet there were moments when they almost wished he would...
It is completely waterproof, yet light and comfortable.
Syn:9) ADV: ADV with adj/n/adv, usu ADV with compar (emphasis) You can use yet to emphasize a word, especially when you are saying that something is surprising because it is more extreme than previous things of its kind, or a further case of them.Yet bigger satellites will be sent up into orbit...
I saw yet another doctor...
They would criticize me, or worse yet, pay me no attention...
By then governments may have woken up to a yet more radical option...
It is plain to see we will not have anything to eat yet again.
10) PHRASE: PHR with cl You use as yet with negative statements to describe a situation that has existed up until the present time. [FORMAL]As yet it is not known whether the crash was the result of an accident...
We have not as yet received a response.
English dictionary. 2008.
