complexes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of complex.

   Two large shopping complexes opened on opposite sides of town this year.

   Childhood insecurities can grow into lasting complexes if left unaddressed.

   Note

   One spelling serves two words: the plural noun here and the present-tense verb. As a noun it covers very different groupings. It can mean shopping or military complexes, thunderstorm complexes tracked as one system, wildfire complexes burning in the same area, or species complexes that biologists struggle to tell apart. A number or determiner in front (two complexes, these complexes) marks it as the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of complex.

   Copper complexes with ammonia to form a deep blue compound.

   Each dye molecule complexes with the fiber, locking the color in place.

   Note

   A verb form that normally travels with "with". In its bonding sense it is intransitive: one substance complexes with another, and nothing takes a direct object. The same verb also has a transitive use meaning "to complicate", where an object follows directly. The preposition is the quickest way to tell the two apart: "complexes with" signals combining, while a bare object signals complicating.

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