districts

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of district.

   Several rural districts share a single fire department.

   The map divides the province into twelve administrative districts.

   Note

   This spelling does double duty: it is both a plural noun and a verb form. As a noun it pluralizes every meaning of district, from administrative divisions and areas with some distinguishing feature to British county divisions without borough status, and even the named areas of a coalface where particular seams are worked. A determiner settles it: several districts or these districts is always the noun, never the verb form.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of district.

   The state legislature districts the region according to population data.

   A central authority districts the territory for tax collection.

   Note

   Here districts is a verb, and a transitive one. It needs an object, the territory being divided: the legislature districts the region. It goes with he, she, it or a singular noun, while every other present-tense subject takes bare district. The verb is built from the plural noun, so one sentence can hold both: the council districts the county into five districts.

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