goldens

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of golden.

   Three goldens lounged in the shade near the porch steps.

   The shelter took in several goldens after the flood last spring.

   Note

   The countable noun behind this plural is usually a clipping: golden is short for golden retriever, so goldens is the natural shorthand for several of the dogs. The same plural can also name the fish Kyphosus vaigiensis of southeast Asia. The adjective golden has no plural, so goldens is always either this noun or the verb meaning "turns gold".

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of golden.

   Autumn goldens the maple leaves before they fall.

   The afternoon light goldens the old stone walls of the courtyard.

   Note

   This verb works in both directions. Used transitively, something goldens something else, as autumn does the maples. Used intransitively, a thing goldens on its own: the wheat goldens, the sky goldens toward evening. Either way, a singular subject takes the -s ending. The same spelling also serves the plural noun, so in a phrase like the goldens it is the noun, not the verb.

   By late August the whole field goldens under the sun.

   Each evening the sky slowly goldens over the harbor.

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