databases

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of database.

   The two databases were merged into a single system last year.

   Researchers cross-referenced three medical databases to confirm the result.

   Note

   A regular plural that can count different things, depending on which meaning of the noun is in play. Two databases may be two structured collections of tables and records or, by a common extension, two software programs that store and query such data. The same spelling also serves as the verb form, so the surrounding grammar tells you which one you are reading.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of database.

   The system databases every transaction the moment it clears.

   Our librarian databases each new acquisition before it reaches the shelves.

   Note

   A verb made from the noun by conversion: to database something is to enter it into a database. It is transitive and needs an object. "The system databases every transaction" is complete, but "the system databases" on its own is not. When no object follows, the word is almost certainly the plural noun instead.

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