TBD
- 1Initialism of to be determined.
The conference venue is still TBD, so hold off on booking your flights.
Several line items in the budget were left TBD pending the next review.
Note
The widest of the phrase readings, covering anything still open: a venue, a budget line, a figure. Because it fits nearly every gap, it is the safe choice when a writer does not yet know how the blank will be filled. When the answer hangs on a vote, the "decided" reading is sharper.
- 2Initialism of to be decided.
The location of next year's reunion is TBD until the committee votes.
Who leads the new team is TBD, and the announcement comes Friday.
Note
Here the blank waits on a choice, such as a committee vote or a Friday announcement. That separates it from the broader "determined" reading, which also covers answers that come from measurement or calculation. When a person or a body will make the call, decided is the more precise expansion.
- 3Initialism of to be done.
Most of the repairs are complete, though the wiring inspection is TBD.
The report's first half is ready; the appendix is TBD by month's end.
- 4Initialism of to be defined.
The boundaries of the new district are TBD pending the survey.
Key parameters in the specification were left TBD for a later revision.
- 5Initialism of to be discussed.
The merger details are TBD when the two boards meet next week.
Staffing levels are still TBD, so we deferred that point to Friday.
- 6Initialism of to be developed.
The waterfront parcel is labeled TBD in the long-range city plan until a builder submits designs for it.
Several product features are TBD and won't ship in the first release.
- 7Initialism of to be delivered.
Two of the five crates arrived, and the rest are TBD next week.
The signed report is in hand, but the raw data files are TBD.
- 8Initialism of to be dated.
The artifact's origin is TBD pending radiocarbon analysis.
The undated letters in the archive are marked TBD by the curators.
Note
Every phrase reading of these letters shares one grammar: to be plus a past participle, a passive infinitive for something still due to happen. It sits where the missing fact would go, after is, remains or marked, or alone in a blank. Here the missing fact is a date, as in archival and archaeological cataloging. So many expansions share three letters that the setting has to show which one is meant.
- 9Initialism of to be discovered.
Countless cave systems in the region remain TBD by the survey teams.
The source of the contamination is TBD while the analysts run more tests.
- 10Initialism of to be disclosed.
The buyer agreed on a price but insisted that it be listed as TBD in the press release.
The headline speaker is confirmed, but organizers are keeping the name TBD until next week's reveal.
Note
Here the answer already exists and is only being held back: an agreed price kept out of a press release, a confirmed speaker saved for a reveal. That reverses most readings of these letters, where nothing is settled yet. The context should therefore make clear that the silence is deliberate.
- 11Initialism of to be designed.
The chassis mounting points are marked TBD in the current drawings.
Half the user interface is TBD while the team gathers feedback.
- 12Initialism of to be declared.
The shipment's customs value was left as TBD on the manifest.
The annual dividend is TBD until the board meets next week.
Note
The letters stand for a passive infinitive, so TBD behaves like an adjective after is or left as: the dividend is TBD, the value was left as TBD. It belongs to customs, finance and legal paperwork, where a figure must later be formally stated. The same letters also abbreviate "to be determined", so context decides. Where a value awaits official declaration, as on a manifest, this reading fits best.
- 13Initialism of to be documented.
Several error codes are still TBD in the developer manual.
The maintenance procedure is already in use, but its write-up is TBD until field crews send in their notes.
Note
The thing itself already works, and only its write-up is missing: an error code with no entry in the manual, a procedure in use before anyone has written it down. It suits manuals, help pages and specifications. It contrasts neatly with the "defined" reading, which marks a deeper gap: a term or boundary that is not yet settled at all.
- 14Initialism of to be deducted.
The agency's commission is TBD from the final settlement.
Shipping charges are TBD from the refund amount.
Note
Accounting and payroll are its home, and its grammar is distinctive. Like the "derived" reading, it often takes from, which names the sum the amount will come out of: TBD from the final settlement, TBD from the refund. Without that from-phrase, readers may take it for one of the other readings.
- 15Initialism of to be derived.
The reaction's rate constant is TBD from upcoming trials.
Until the proof is finished, the paper leaves the final equation TBD, to follow from the earlier lemmas.
Note
A figure still to be worked out from other results, such as a rate constant from coming trials or an equation from earlier lemmas. A writer who means derived should name the data or proof the value will come from. On their own, the letters could just as easily be read as the "determined" reading.
- 16Initialism of to be destroyed.
Expired medicines were marked TBD in the pharmacy's disposal register and sent off for incineration.
Classified drafts stamped TBD go to the shredder at the end of each week.
Note
The odd one out among these readings. It marks no gap waiting to be filled; instead it records a fate already settled for the item itself. It labels expired medicines, classified drafts and anything bound for the shredder or the incinerator. It is clear only where the setting, such as a disposal register or a shredding bin, makes that plain.
- 17Initialism of torpedo boat destroyer.
The aging TBD was retired and scrapped after the war.
Two TBDs screened the battleship from torpedo attacks.
Note
A historical name for a warship. Written out in full, it is usually hyphenated as torpedo-boat destroyer. The type belongs to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and its name was later shortened to plain destroyer. Unlike the phrase readings of the same letters, this one is an ordinary countable noun: one TBD, two TBDs screening a battleship.
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Practice
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