grosses

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of gross.

   Each sequel grosses slightly less than the film before it.

   The franchise grosses billions worldwide once merchandise is counted.

   Note

   The verb of earnings reports: what a film or a business grosses is what it takes in before any expenses are subtracted. It is transitive, and its object is the sum itself (grosses billions, grosses two million dollars), not the source of the money. The same spelling also serves the plural noun, so "the grosses" with an article points to the noun, never the verb.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of gross.

   The supplier delivered two grosses of screws for the repair job.

   Stocking that many grosses of candles required a second warehouse.

   Note

   Two different nouns share this plural. The counting unit of 144, twelve dozen, gives two grosses of screws. The total before deductions gives the grosses of several films or quarters compared side by side. Context tells them apart: physical items point to the dozen-based count, and money points to the total. The adjective gross, as in gross income or gross anatomy, never takes this ending.

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