changes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of change.

   Small changes to the recipe added up to a very different loaf.

   The bell-ringers practiced their changes for an hour before the service.

   Note

   Only some uses of change can be counted, and this plural belongs to them: alterations, replacements and transfers between vehicles, as in a few changes to the plan or two changes on the way to the airport. Money works differently. Change meaning coins or the balance returned is a mass noun, so a cashier hands back some change, never some changes, however many coins land in your palm.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of change.

   Nothing changes in this village except the price of bread.

   The train changes crews at the border and continues south.

   Note

   It is spelled exactly like the noun plural, and the sentence shows which one you have: the weather changes, but the changes to the plan. The verb is ergative, so one event can be told from the thing itself (the plan changes) or from whoever causes it (she changes the plan). The replacing uses share the form: a mechanic changes a tire, a commuter changes at the next stop.

3. 3
   nounabbreviationellipsis

   Ellipsis of chord changes.

   A jazz soloist improvises over the changes rather than over the melody.

   The pianist called out the changes so the bassist could follow the tune.

   Note

   A jazz player's word above all. To play the changes is to improvise through a tune's chord sequence, which gives the tune its stability, shape and direction. The word is clipped from chord changes and is used only in the plural. Unlike the everyday plural, it names one thing, the whole progression, rather than a set of separate alterations.

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