biasses

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of bias. A rare spelling; the usual form is biases.

   An unrepresentative sample biasses every conclusion drawn from it.

   The editor's preference for short fiction biasses the magazine's selections.

   Note

   The verb form shares its spelling, and its spelling choice, with the rare doubled-s plural. It is transitive and needs a direct object: a sample biasses a result, and a preference biasses a selection. The construction is the same whether the meaning is to influence someone's judgment or to give a thing a bias in the physical or technical sense.

2. 2
   nounrare

   Plural of bias. A rare spelling; the usual plural is biases.

   Reviewers must set aside their own biasses when judging anonymous submissions.

   The training session aimed to expose the hidden biasses that shape everyday decisions.

   Note

   A doubled-s spelling of the plural, rare beside the usual biases and found mostly in older or stylistically conservative texts. It covers every sense of the noun, not only leanings of mind. It can mean the diagonals of woven cloth, the voltages applied to a transistor, the systematic distortions of a statistical estimator, or the weighted curve of a bowl. Writers who choose it should expect most readers to look for biases.

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