faces

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of face.

   The gallery walls were lined with the painted faces of forgotten kings.

   Their faces lit up the moment the presents appeared on the table.

   Note

   A regular plural, made by adding -s to face, and spelled exactly like the verb in "she faces", so only the sentence tells them apart. Nearly every noun use of face takes this plural without change: the fronts of heads in a portrait gallery, and the twisted expressions of displeasure people make or pull at one another, a use that is almost always plural.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of face.

   The company faces serious financial trouble this quarter.

   Her bedroom window faces east, catching the morning light.

   Note

   The verb form for a subject that points somewhere or confronts something. Orientation needs no preposition: a house faces the sea, a window faces east. Confrontation covers both what lies ahead and what must be dealt with: she faces a long trial; he faces the facts. In retail, a clerk who faces the shelves pulls stock forward and turns it the right way around. The spelling is shared with the plural noun.

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