dots

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of dot.

   The artist filled the canvas with thousands of colored dots.

   Connect the dots to reveal the hidden picture.

   Note

   Every meaning of dot forms its plural the same way, so this one word covers spots of paint, points written above or below letters, decimal and multiplication symbols, the marks that lengthen a musical note, and Morse signals. Only context tells them apart. Three in a row make the ellipsis, and the same spelling also serves the verb, as in the painter dots the sky.

2. 2
   verbcollective

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of dot.

   The painter dots the night sky with faint stars.

   She always dots her signature with a small flourish.

   Note

   Behind this form is a verb with a wide range. It can mean sprinkling small spots of liquid, adding marks to letters, or scattering small objects across a surface, as when cottages are said to dot a hillside. In colloquial use it can also mean to punch someone, so he dots him describes a blow, not a decoration.

3. 3
   nounplural

   A punctuation mark made of three dots that marks omitted text or a sentence left unfinished; an ellipsis.

   The editor replaced the deleted clause with dots to keep the passage readable.

   His text ended in dots, as if he wasn't sure how to finish.

   Similarellipsis

   Note

   This name for the ellipsis exists only in the plural. Each of the three marks is a dot, but the mark as a whole is always dots, never a dot. Because it names the complete mark, it fits phrases like a sentence ending in dots or a message trailing off in dots.

4. 4
   noundialectalMulticultural London Englishcollectiveuncountable

   Alternative form of dotty. Slang in Multicultural London English.

   He pulled out the dots and the crowd scattered.

   They came up the block waving the dots around.

   Note

   In Multicultural London English the word means a shotgun, a variant of dotty. Despite the -s it is not a plural. Song lyrics put this or that before it and refer back to it with it, as when a rapper describes firing it. With verbs like grab, or when it is held in two hands, it cannot be the plural of dot. It is street slang, best kept to quoting or describing that speech.

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