decisions

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of decision.

   The committee reviewed all of last year's decisions.

   Several of the court's decisions were later overturned on appeal.

   Note

   A plural that covers most of the noun's meanings, but not all of them. Choices and judgments pluralize freely, and so do the judges' verdicts that settle a contest with no clear winner and the wins or losses awarded to a pitcher. Firmness of conviction does not: a leader can act with decision, never with decisions. The same spelling also serves the fight-judging verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of decision.

   The oddsmakers' view is simple: the veteran decisions the challenger over twelve rounds.

   A patient counterpuncher, he seldom finishes fights and usually decisions opponents on all three scorecards.

   Note

   Combat sports turned the noun into a verb. To decision a fighter is to beat them on the judges' scorecards rather than by a knockout. The verb is transitive, with the beaten opponent as its object, so a fighter decisions a rival and the rival is decisioned. It has no general use outside the ring. For ordinary choosing, the verb is still decide.

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