biases

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of bias.

   Cognitive biases can distort even careful decision-making.

   The study examined how unconscious biases affect hiring.

   Note

   The plural is regular: -es is added because the word already ends in an s sound. Each countable use of the noun can take it, from a person's biases to the biases of a statistical estimator, the voltages applied to transistor electrodes, or the weighted lean of a bowl. The same spelling serves the verb's present-tense form, so "the biases" is a noun and "it biases" a verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of bias.

   Selective reporting biases public perception of the issue.

   The instrument's design biases readings toward higher values.

   Note

   Agreement with a singular subject calls for -es here, the same ending that shapes the plural noun. The verb is transitive: something biases a result, a reading or a perception, often pushing it toward one side, as when a design biases readings toward higher values. In electronics the object is a device, and a circuit biases a transistor by applying a set voltage or current to it.

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