furs

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of fur.

   Merchants traded furs from the north for spices and silk.

   The museum displays furs from several Arctic mammals.

   Note

   The plural comes from the countable uses of fur: pelts that are traded or made into clothing, and the garments made from them. Fur as a material, or as an animal's living coat, takes no plural, as in a collar trimmed with fur or a cat's thick fur. So furs refers to separate skins or pieces. Someone wearing furs has on fur garments, and a merchant dealing in furs handles pelts.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of fur.

   The contractor furs out the basement walls so the insulation fits.

   The crew furs each ceiling joist before the drywall goes up.

   Note

   The present-tense form after he, she or it works both with and without an object. Scale furs a kettle's element, and an untended element furs as the coating builds. The building trades use it differently: a carpenter furs a wall by applying furring to level its surface. It is spelled the same as the plural noun, so only its place in the sentence shows which one is meant.

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