banners

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of banner.

   Campaign banners lined every block leading up to the polling station.

   Protesters carried banners reading slogans against the new policy.

   Note

   A regular -s plural that carries every meaning of the singular: the standards of commanders and nations, the units that marched under them, the large cloth signs hung up or carried in processions, and, figuratively, causes and movements. The same spelling is also a verb form. In "banners lined the street" it names the objects, while in "the town banners its streets" it describes the act of decorating.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of banner.

   The editor banners the election results in bold type above the fold.

   Every July the town banners its streets with flags and welcome signs.

   Note

   The verb is transitive, so this form always needs an object: a town banners its streets, an editor banners a result. Its two uses pull in different directions. One is literal decoration with flags and signs. The other belongs to the newsroom, where a story is bannered when it runs as a banner headline, set large across the top of the page.

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