carpenters

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of carpenter.

   Skilled carpenters built the entire staircase by hand.

   The contractor hired three carpenters to finish the roof trusses.

   Note

   The plural reaches beyond the workshop. Besides people who cut and join timber, it can name the senior ship's ratings in charge of a vessel's woodwork, two-wheeled carriages, carpenter bees, and, in regional British and Canadian speech, woodlice. Context usually settles which is meant. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb, so "the carpenters" and "she carpenters" differ only in what surrounds the word.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of carpenter.

   He carpenters for a living, fitting cabinets in homes across the county.

   The old craftsman still carpenters small toys for the children next door.

   Note

   A verb that works with or without an object. Someone can simply carpenter for a living, or carpenter something specific, such as cabinets or small toys. The -s ending ties it to a he, she or it subject in the present tense. That subject is the easiest way to tell it from the plural noun: the verb follows a single doer, while the noun names the doers themselves.

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