Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The day before the present day.
  • noun Time in the past, especially the recent past.
  • adverb On the day before the present day.
  • adverb A short while ago.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The day last past; the day next before the present: often used figuratively for time not long gone by; time in the immediate past.
  • On the day preceding this day; on the day last past.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb On the day last past; on the day preceding to-day.
  • noun The day last past; the day next before the present.
  • noun Fig.: A recent time; time not long past.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The day before today. 'Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow'. It can also understand as a day ago.
  • noun The (recent) past, often disparaging.
  • adverb On the day before today

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb on the day preceding today
  • noun the day immediately before today
  • noun the recent past
  • adverb in the recent past; only a short time ago

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English geostran dæg : geostran, yesterday; see yester– + dæg, day; see day.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old English geostran dæg, equivalent to yester- +‎ day; compounded from

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Examples

  • ˜Socrates came yesterday,™ ˜yesterday™ tells us the pertinent time) and those that indicate place.

    Medieval Theories of the Categories Gracia, Jorge 2006

  • We were extracted by snow cat half way through a winter survival skills course with the Canadian military following the word yesterday morning about Columbia.

    HAVE YOU SEEN MY COUNTRY LATELY? JERRY DOYLE 2010

  • Hillary's win yesterday is important because no one knows how many superdelegates are going to back her but the Puerto Rico win certainly won't * decrease* that number.

    Clinton reviewing 'options' - but says superdelegates could shift 2008

  • Hillary's win yesterday is important because no one knows how many superdelegates are going to back her but the Puerto Rico win certainly won't * decrease* that number.

    Clinton reviewing 'options' - but says superdelegates could shift 2008

  • I heard him say your name yesterday while I was giving him a wash.

    THE TIME QUAKE Linda Buckley-Archer 2009

  • I heard him say your name yesterday while I was giving him a wash.

    THE TIME QUAKE Linda Buckley-Archer 2009

  • I heard him say your name yesterday while I was giving him a wash.

    THE TIME QUAKE Linda Buckley-Archer 2009

  • I heard him say your name yesterday while I was giving him a wash.

    THE TIME QUAKE Linda Buckley-Archer 2009

  • I heard him say your name yesterday while I was giving him a wash.

    THE TIME QUAKE Linda Buckley-Archer 2009

  • Please tell Senator Biden that the “Madrasah” that he spoke about yesterday is Arabic for schools.

    Morning Buzz: Gaffe-Free? You betchya 2008

Comments

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  • JM knows it only happened 24 hours ago but it really feels like yesterday.

    June 19, 2011