authors

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of author.

   Several authors collaborated on the encyclopedia's revised edition.

   The award celebrates authors whose work shaped modern fiction.

   Note

   A regular plural that carries every meaning of its singular, including the narrower ones. In US copyright usage, the authors of a work made for hire can be a company rather than the people who wrote it. Older English also used the word for the principals in a crime and for one's informants. The same spelling serves the verb form, so "the authors of the report" and "she authors the report" differ only in grammar.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of author.

   The senator authors several bills on environmental policy each session.

   Our chief researcher authors the annual report that the board reviews.

   Note

   The verb behind this form is a noun put to work as a verb. It is an American use, and it is sometimes proscribed: some careful writers object to it altogether. It sits most comfortably with bills, reports and papers, where the subject is credited with a document. In polished prose, a plainer verb such as writes avoids the objection.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2