homes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of home.

   Floodwaters damaged hundreds of homes along the river last spring.

   Older homes often need more upkeep than newly built ones.

   Note

   The plural is regular, and the same spelling does two other jobs: the verb form in "the pigeon homes," and the slang term of address. As a plural it fits the concrete meanings of home best: houses, birthplaces, places of refuge or care. The more abstract sense, "the abiding place of the affections," tends to stay singular.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of home.

   The drone homes in on its target with little human input.

   Each spring, the salmon homes toward the river where it hatched.

   Note

   The verb behind this form is intransitive: something homes, but it does not home something else. Its core idea is a return to an owner. To tell it from the plural noun, look at what comes before it. A singular subject (the pigeon homes) marks the verb, while a determiner (the homes, two homes) marks the noun.

3. 3
   nounslang

   Alternative spelling of holmes.

   What's up, homes? It's been way too long.

   Thanks for the ride, homes, I owe you one.

   Note

   Despite the final -s, this word is singular. It addresses one person, much as man or dude does, and has no plural. It usually opens or closes a greeting: "Yo, homes" in Robert Crais's The Two Minute Rule (2007), "what's up Homes?" in Matthew Ray's Ethan Brown's Twisted Reality (2008). It is slang between friends, so keep it out of formal speech.

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