habits

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of habit.

   Years of small daily habits shaped the way he approached his work.

   The coach focused on building strong practice habits in her younger players.

   Note

   The plural spans two very different families of meaning. One is routines and compulsions, as in bad habits or study habits. The other is garments, as in the nuns' habits or riding habits. Only countable uses take a plural. When the singular is uncountable, as in acting out of habit, there is nothing to pluralize. The same spelling also serves the verb meaning 'clothes'.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of habit.

   Note

   A verb form hiding behind a familiar plural. In the convent habits its novices, it means the convent clothes them, the same idea as the monk's or nun's garment. Because it looks exactly like the noun, the sentence needs a clear subject and object to be read correctly. An archaic second meaning, 'inhabits', also shares this form, but current use keeps to clothing.

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