concentrates

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of concentrate.

   He concentrates hardest in the quiet hour before the office fills up.

   The refinery concentrates the raw ore before sending it to the smelter.

   Note

   The present-tense form spans several constructions. With an object, it gathers or strengthens something: the refinery concentrates the ore. Without one, it usually means focusing the mind, and then it takes on: she concentrates on the score. A third pattern lets the thing being gathered act as the subject, as in traffic concentrates near the bridge, so the verb works both ways round.

   She concentrates on the score and ignores the crowd.

   Traffic concentrates near the bridge every evening.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of concentrate.

   Miners separated the metal concentrates from the waste rock before smelting.

   The recipe calls for two different juice concentrates diluted with water.

   Note

   A plural that counts kinds and batches of condensed material, such as fruit-juice concentrates or the mineral concentrates drawn from ore. The singular often names a substance in bulk, and the plural appears when separate products or grades are meant. The spelling is shared with the present-tense verb. A determiner or modifier in front (these, metal, juice) marks the noun, while a subject in front marks the verb.

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