impacts

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of impact.

   The report listed the environmental impacts of the new highway.

   Repeated impacts from the hammer left dents in the metal plate.

   Note

   The countable side of a noun that is often used without a plural: a single blow can be counted, yet a car may also crumple on impact. The plural serves both the physical collisions and the figurative effects, as in environmental impacts. That figurative 'strong effect' meaning is one some usage guides discourage, so careful formal prose often prefers effects. The same spelling also does duty as the verb form.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of impact.

   Rising sea level impacts coastal communities every year.

   Each policy change impacts the budget in unexpected ways.

   Note

   Here the spelling belongs to a transitive verb, so it takes a direct object with no preposition: the storm impacts the coast. Its physical uses mean striking or packing something tight, and a rare one means stamping onto a surface. The 'strongly affect' use draws the same objection as the 'effect' noun. Where that matters, affects is the safer choice.

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