yes

exclamation

• 1used to give an affirmative response:‘Do you understand?’ ‘Yes.’
• expressing agreement with a positive statement:‘That was a grand evening.’ ‘Yes, it was.’
• asked at the end of a statement to indicate the expectation of agreement:you think I perhaps killed Westbourne, yes?
• expressing contradiction of a negative statement:‘You don’t want to go.’ ‘Yes, I do.’

• 2used as a response to someone addressing one or trying to attract one’s attention:‘Oh, Mr Lawrence.’ ‘Yes?’

• 3used to question a remark:‘It should be easy to check.’ ‘Oh yes? How?’

• 4encouraging someone to continue speaking:‘When you bought those photographs ...’ ‘Yes?’

• 5expressing great pleasure or excitement:plenty to eat, including hot hamburger sandwiches (yes!)

• 6expressing irritation or impatience:‘Is the pain still there?’ ‘Yes, yes, damn you, the pain is always there’

noun (plural yeses or yesses)

• an affirmative answer or decision, especially in voting:answering with assured and ardent yeses