edits

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of edit.

   He edits every manuscript carefully before it reaches the printer.

   The new software edits photos faster than the old version did.

   Note

   The -s form goes with a singular subject such as he, she, it or a program, while every other present-tense subject takes bare edit. It carries an ambiguity worth watching: "she edits the journal" can mean she corrects its pages, or that she is its editor and runs it. Only context settles which. Film and genetics use it too, for cutting raw footage into a film and for altering DNA.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of edit.

   The manuscript went through dozens of edits over the years.

   Reviewers suggested numerous edits to tighten the argument.

   Note

   A plural that reaches well beyond manuscripts. It counts changes to a document, a website or a piece of code. It also names edited pieces of video footage, online compilations of a show's or a sport's memorable moments, the interruptions that redirect an improvised scene, and alterations to a chromosome's DNA. The same spelling serves the present-tense verb, so only the surrounding words tell "three edits" from "she edits."

Showing meanings only. Show all 2