fosters

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of foster.

   The new principal fosters a strong sense of community across the campus.

   Regular practice fosters the discipline that competitive athletes rely on.

   Note

   The -s ending appears only with a singular subject in the present: she fosters, the program fosters, but they foster. In current use the verb nearly always takes a direct object, whether a child (fosters two children) or a quality (fosters trust, fosters growth). The intransitive use, meaning to be raised together, is obsolete, so "it fosters" with no object now reads as incomplete.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of foster.

   The rescue group asked volunteers to take in several fosters before winter set in.

   Many fosters go on to thrive once they settle into a permanent home.

   Note

   The plural belongs only to the countable uses of the noun. Fosters meaning foster parents is informal, so formal writing usually spells out foster parents. Fosters meaning foresters is obsolete. The uncountable sense of care or guardianship takes no plural at all. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb, as in she fosters two children, so context decides which one is meant.

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