contacts

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of contact.

   Her business contacts spanned three different industries.

   The technician replaced the worn electrical contacts inside the relay.

   Note

   A plural that gathers very different things under one spelling. It can mean the people you can reach (business contacts, a list of contacts), the ways of reaching them, such as phone numbers, or the small parts that connect a device to something else, as in a relay's contacts. Only the surrounding words show which is meant. The same spelling is also the verb's -s form, so check whether the word names something or does something.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of contact.

   Whenever the alarm trips, the system automatically contacts the security office.

   The agency contacts applicants within two weeks of the deadline.

   Note

   The -s form follows he, she, it or a singular noun, and every other subject takes plain contact. In both of its meanings, touching and getting in touch, the verb is transitive, so the object follows directly: the agency contacts applicants, not "contacts with" them. The preposition belongs to the noun, as in making contact with someone. That noun's plural, the noun plural, has the same spelling.

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