DMS

PluralDMSs

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of DM.

   Her inbox was flooded with DMs after the post went viral.

   The brand answers customer questions through DMs rather than email.

   Note

   The plural of the nouns spelled DM, from Deutsche Mark to dry matter to diabetes mellitus, made by adding a lowercase s. That small letter is what separates it on the page from the initialisms written DMS in capitals. It shares its exact spelling with the boots, so context decides whether DMs are currency or footwear.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of DM.

   The artist DMs fans who comment on her latest sketch.

   Whenever a deal drops, the store DMs its loyal followers first.

   Note

   The verb has two lives. Online it is transitive and takes the person as its object: she DMs her fans, and the store DMs its followers. Among tabletop gamers it means running the game as dungeon master, and there it needs no object: he DMs on Fridays. In both senses the capitals stay, and only the ending is lowercase.

3. 3
   nouncolloquialcountableplural

   Boots or shoes made by the Dr. Martens brand.

   Her DMs had finally broken in after weeks of stiff heels and blisters.

   A row of brightly colored DMs lined the shop window downtown.

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   Note

   The boot sense comes straight from the brand, as an abbreviation of Dr. Martens. It is usually written DMs, with a lowercase s, and it is always plural: a pair of DMs. Colin Ward's Armed for the Match (2013) shows its register, with lads talking about a new pair of DMs the way others talked about a shiny new car.

4. 4
   noununcountableinitialism

   Initialism of Database Management System.

   Choosing the right DMS depends on how much data you need to query.

   The startup struggled until it replaced its spreadsheets with a proper DMS.

   Note

   Here the stress falls on control: a suite of interrelated programs that processes messages and applies database updates under tight rules. The letters are shared exactly with the document system, so a writer who means databases does well to give the full phrase the first time it appears.

5. 5
   noununcountableinitialism

   Initialism of Document Management System.

   Staff upload signed forms to the DMS instead of keeping paper copies.

   The audit was painless because every record lived in the DMS.

   Note

   Software for keeping track of documents, both electronic files and scanned images of paper ones. In computing it collides with the database sense, which is spelled identically. Context usually settles it: a document system stores files and pages, while a database system manages records and their updates. Where the difference matters, spell the phrase out at first mention.

6. 6
   noununcountableinitialism

   Initialism of Driver Monitoring System.

   Her sedan's DMS flashed a warning after she yawned twice in a row.

   Regulators may soon require a DMS in every new passenger vehicle.

   Note

   Car makers' shorthand, in which the driver being watched is the person at the wheel. That needs saying, because driver also names a piece of software that runs hardware, and in a computing context these letters could mislead. In the automotive sense it is fitted equipment: something a vehicle has, or something regulators require.

7. 7
   noununcountableinitialism

   Initialism of DiMethyl Sulfide.

   The sensor detected a spike in DMS as the tide carried in fresh seaweed.

   Cooked cabbage and certain shellfish release small amounts of DMS.

   Note

   Laboratory shorthand for the organosulfur compound (CH₃)₂S, which forms when many biological sulfur compounds break down and also has industrial uses. As the name of a substance it is a mass noun: you detect or measure DMS, with no article and no plural. Spelled out, it is written in lowercase as dimethyl sulfide; the capitals only mark where the letters come from.

8. 8
   noununcountableinitialism

   Initialism of Degree-Minute-Second, a way of writing angles.

   Pilots often read latitude and longitude given in DMS on older charts.

   The textbook asks students to rewrite each angle in DMS form.

   Note

   A notation rather than a quantity: the three letters name the units an angle is broken into, which are degrees, then minutes, then seconds. It usually follows in and works like a label: given in DMS, rewritten in DMS form. The hyphenated full name lists the units in the order they are written, largest first.

9. 9
   proper nouninitialism

   Initialism of Defense Message System.

   Commanders relied on the DMS for time-sensitive operational traffic.

   Maintenance crews tested the DMS before the joint exercise began.

   Note

   Defense carries its protective sense and its American spelling, because that is how the full name is written. As the name of one particular network it takes the: commanders relied on the DMS. Its letters overlap with the donors' messaging service, but the military setting makes the two hard to confuse.

10. 10
    noununcountableinitialism

    Initialism of Digital Multiplex System.

    The phone company installed a DMS to handle the growing call volume.

    A failure in the DMS knocked out service across half the district.

    Note

    Telephone-company equipment rather than a consumer product. Multiplex is the key word: many signals share one channel. Digital says that the sharing is done in digital form. It is something a carrier installs to handle call volume, and when it fails, service drops across a wide area.

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