favors

1. 1
   giftsnoun

   Plural of favor.

   The guests took home small favors at the end of the wedding.

   Politicians often trade favors behind closed doors.

   Note

   Two different plurals share this spelling. One is the helpful deeds that people do, owe, trade or call in. The other is the small gifts handed out at weddings and parties, often called party favors. The surrounding words usually decide which is meant: favors owed or returned are deeds, and favors left at each place setting are gifts. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb.

2. 2
   prefersverb

   Third-person singular simple present of favor.

   The hiring committee favors candidates with prior teaching experience.

   Warm, humid weather favors the spread of these insects.

   Note

   One verb form covers several kinds of leaning. A committee favors a candidate when it prefers one, and warm weather favors insects when it helps them spread. A less obvious use is about family likeness: a child who favors her mother looks like her. That meaning takes a person as its direct object, with no preposition, so you say she favors her father, not she favors to her father.

   Everyone says the baby favors his grandfather around the eyes.

   She favors her mother more with every year.

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