combinations
- 1Plural of combination.
The chemist tested various combinations of compounds to find the strongest reaction.
Certain combinations of notes create tension before the music resolves.
Note
A regular plural, but only the countable uses of combination take it. The mass sense, the act or state of combining, stays singular. The countable ones multiply freely: the codes that open locks, selections made without regard to order, alliances formed for a shared purpose, and the billiards shot where one ball drives another. The same spelling also names the one-piece undergarment, a garment rather than a plural.
- 2A one-piece undergarment that joins an upper vest or chemise to underpants in a single garment.
Much like a modern union suit, joining undershirt and drawers into a single garment.
The maid laid out a fresh set of combinations for the cold morning.
He pulled his combinations on before the rest of his clothes, glad of the extra warmth.
Note
A single garment with a plural name, like trousers or pajamas. The name records its design, since the upper and lower halves are combined into one. Because the noun is plural in form, it takes plural agreement and plural pronouns: you pull them on. When counting, speakers reach for a phrase such as a set of combinations.
combinations is a form of combination
combination, noun: Two or more things joined or mixed together, or the act of joining them. Full entry
- Forms
- combinationcombinations plural
- Spelling
- combination → combinations: add -s
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /z/.
Use it in a sentence
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