cites

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of cite.

   The professor cites three studies to support her argument.

   Whenever the topic comes up, he cites the original report from memory.

   Note

   Agreement does the work here. The -s appears only with a singular third-person subject in the present (she cites, the report cites), while I, you, we and they take bare cite. The form carries every meaning of the verb, from quoting a passage to the legal one. A document that cites someone to appear in court is summoning that person, not quoting them.

2. 2
   nouncolloquial

   Plural of cite.

   The brief included several cites to recent appellate decisions.

   Editors flagged a few missing cites before sending the article to print.

   Note

   The plural of an informal noun: a cite is a citation, so cites are the references a writer points to, such as cites to appellate decisions or missing cites in a manuscript. In formal prose, citations is the safer choice. The spelling is shared with the verb form (she cites a study). The noun takes an article or a number, and the verb takes a subject.

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