fights

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of fight.

   The referee broke up three separate fights during the match.

   Most of their fights started over money and ended in silence.

   Note

   Only the countable meanings of the noun take a plural: bouts in the ring, scuffles in the street, running quarrels, and the old military sense of battles between armies. The meaning of spirit or will to keep going stays uncountable, so she still has fight in her, never fights. The same spelling also serves as the verb's present form, and a determiner such as the or three usually marks the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of fight.

   He fights cleanly and never argues with the referee.

   Her body fights the infection more slowly when she is exhausted.

   Note

   The -s ending appears only with a singular subject (he, she, it, or a singular noun), and it carries every use of the verb. With a direct object it names the opponent or the undertaking: fights a rival, fights a war, fights a cause. Without one it often takes for, as in she fights for better pay. With a plural subject the -s drops: they fight each other.

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