open question

British  

noun

1. a matter which is undecided

2. a question that cannot be answered with a yes or no but requires a developed answer

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open question Idioms  

1. An unresolved issue, one that has not been finally determined. For example, Whether the town should pave all the unpaved roads remains an open question. In the mid-1800s this term acquired a specific meaning in the British Parliament, that is, “an issue on which members may vote independently, without respect to their party affiliation.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

open question

However, whether CBL-514 can reliably prevent weight regain in people remains an open question.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

Whether that money will buy new jobs or subsidize existing ones is the open question, said Patrick Button, a film and TV tax incentives skeptic and professor of economics at Tulane University.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

It is an open question how Yale’s medical school can survive in its present form without income provided by federally supported research.

From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026

Whether that strategy would pay off is still an open question.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026

Whether the human race can actually maintain a population of five billion or more without a crash with a hot virus remains an open question.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston