yeses

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of yes.

   The chair tallied the yeses before announcing the result.

   A chorus of enthusiastic yeses greeted the proposal.

   Note

   The ordinary noun plural, and it covers both things a yes can be: replies of agreement and votes in favor. A chair counts yeses as readily as a suitor hopes for them. Letitia Elizabeth Landon's Romance and Reality (1831) has a distracted Emily who "prepared a few yeses," stock answers readied in advance. The spelling adds -es because the word already ends in s.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of yes.

   Whenever the director asks, the assistant simply yeses him and moves on.

   She yeses each request in the meeting, then quietly ignores half of them.

   Note

   Here yes works as a verb, and it keeps its colloquial tone. It can be transitive, meaning to agree with or approve someone, or intransitive, meaning simply to say yes. In slang it means flattering by habitual agreement, as in "he yeses the boss." It shares its -es spelling with the noun plural. Keep it to conversation and lively prose rather than formal writing.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2