flexes

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of flex.

   The gymnast flexes each joint carefully before the routine.

   The long bridge flexes slightly whenever heavy trucks cross it.

   Note

   The -es ending is the one English gives verbs that end in x, so flex becomes flexes, much as fix becomes fixes. The same spelling also serves as the noun plural, and only context tells them apart. The form carries every use of the verb: the literal bending of a joint or a bridge, and the slang sense of showing off, with or without an object.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of flex.

   Her constant flexes about the promotion grew tiresome by the end of dinner.

   The dancer's slow flexes of the wrist drew every eye in the room.

   Note

   Only the countable uses of the noun take this plural: acts of flexing, electrical cords, and points of inflection on a curve. When flex means flexibility, or flexible wiring in general as it does in the UK and Ireland, it stays uncountable. You buy a length of flex, not flexes, but two lamps have two flexes.

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