advantages

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of advantage.

   The committee weighed the advantages of each proposal before deciding.

   Modern materials give these bridges clear structural advantages.

   Note

   The spelling is shared with the verb form, but here it counts things: several distinct favorable conditions or benefits, each one an advantage. The plural belongs to the countable uses. When the word means gain or benefit in general, as in take advantage of, it stays singular and takes no -s. That is why a writer lists the advantages of a plan but never takes advantages of it.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of advantage.

   The revised tax code advantages homeowners over renters.

   Her fluency in three languages advantages her in international negotiations.

   Note

   A transitive verb form whose subject is usually a circumstance, such as a rule, a skill or a policy, and whose object is the one who gains the edge. It also has a reflexive use, in which someone advantages himself or herself by acting for their own benefit. Unlike the plural noun, this -s marks agreement with a single subject: a law advantages, laws advantage.

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