First recorded in 1955–60
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And that’s one snag to nailing the yes-no question about a bubble.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2025
Kavanaugh began droning on about how the limits of prosecutorial discretion require further study before Harris cut him off, repeating a version of the simple yes-no question.
From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2018
It took him 12 seconds to muster an answer to the yes-no question, punctuated with nervous laughter and stuttering.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 5, 2017
This is a problem of information, that is the idea that every particle and every force in the universe contains information, an implicit answer to a yes-no question.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2016
His theorem has implications for information, in the cosmologist's sense of information: the idea that every particle and every force in the universe has an implicit answer to a yes-no question.
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2016
This feature pre-empts misconceptions by posing a commonly asked yes/no question, followed by a detailed answer and explanation.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021
The yes/no question was something like, “Would your concerns about Covid interfere with your ability to focus on the trial?”
From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2021
They realized there was a single yes/no question that could predict whether someone would be alive and happy at age 80:
From Time ● Apr. 5, 2016
When you look at the research, what yes/no question can likely predict whether you will be alive and happy at age 80?
From Time ● Jul. 8, 2015
Voters in Scotland will be asked the "yes/no" question: "Should Scotland be an independent country."
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2013
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
