fruits

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of fruit.

   Tropical fruits like mango and papaya thrive in warm climates.

   The orchard produces several different fruits over the growing season.

   Note

   A plural that shares ground with an uncountable singular. Uncountable fruit is the food in general (eat more fruit). Fruits counts separate items or distinct kinds, as in tropical fruits or several different fruits from one orchard. The plural also carries the figurative meaning of results or consequences, good or bad: the fruits of her labor are what her effort produced.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of fruit.

   A healthy lemon tree fruits heavily once it matures.

   The old pear tree still fruits despite years of neglect.

   Note

   The verb's present form has the same spelling as the noun plural, so the sentence decides which one you are reading: a tree fruits, but a tree's fruits ripen. As a verb it names what a plant does, and the plant is its subject. It often takes an adverb of amount, as in fruits heavily. Because the verb covers spores and seeds as well as fruit, it can describe spore-bearing plants too.

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