copies

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of copy.

   The library keeps several copies of the most popular novels.

   Early copies of the manuscript survived in three different monasteries.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs here: the plural noun and the verb's he-she-it form. After a consonant, final -y becomes -ies, as in baby and babies. The plural belongs to the countable senses: duplicates, imitations, gene copies. Copy in the sense of text awaiting typesetting is usually uncountable, so an editor asks for more copy, not more copies.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of copy.

   The child copies whatever her older brother does.

   This software copies the files to a backup drive automatically.

   Note

   Nearly every use takes a direct object: a program copies a file, a sender copies a colleague, an apprentice copies a master's style. The exception is the sense of receiving a transmission successfully, where the verb can stand alone. The -ies spelling it shares with the plural noun follows the same consonant-plus-y rule.

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