ivories
- 1Plural of ivory.
The auction house cataloged dozens of antique ivories before the sale.
Several ivories in the collection were carved during the Ming dynasty.
Note
The plural works only where ivory can be counted. The material itself, the dentin of tusks, takes no plural. What does take one are things made from it or resembling it, such as carvings in a collection or pieces at auction, and shades of the creamy color. Two plurals have become words of their own: the piano keys and the teeth. Ivory is also an ethnic slur for a white person, and that sense pluralizes too.
- 2The keys of a piano, taken as a group.
The jazz pianist tickled the ivories late into the night.
Years of practice gave her complete command of the ivories.
Note
A plural-only name that sees the instrument through its material. Narrowly it means just the white keys, and the black ones are the ebonies. Loosely it covers the whole keyboard. Because it lives in the plural, a pianist plays the ivories, never an ivory. Its natural home is the playful phrase tickle the ivories, meaning to play the piano with ease.
- 3
ivories is a form of ivory
ivory, noun: The hard white form of dentin that makes up the tusks of elephants, walruses, and other animals. Full entry
- Forms
- ivoryivories plural
- Spelling
- ivory → ivories: change y to i, add -es
Use it in a sentence
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