present perfect: Meaning and Definition of

pres'ent per'fect

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. (in English) the tense form consisting of the present tense of have with a past participle and noting that the action of the verb was completed prior to the present, as I have finished.
  2. a tense of similar construction found in certain other languages.
  3. a form in this tense.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.