labels

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of label.

   The warehouse staff printed fresh labels for every shipment.

   Several independent record labels signed new artists this year.

   Note

   One plural serves every kind of label the noun names: tickets on parcels, the categories people get sorted into, record companies, named jump points in program code, even a charge shaped like a horse's breast strap. The spelling is shared with the present-tense verb, and the sentence decides which one you have. In "the labels peel off" it is the noun, and in "she labels the jars" it is the verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of label.

   The pharmacist labels each prescription with clear dosage instructions.

   Our software automatically labels incoming messages as spam or safe.

   Note

   One present-tense form does several jobs. When it categorizes, it takes an object and a description, with or without as: the press labels him a traitor, the filter labels mail as spam. In laboratories the verb turns technical. A researcher labels a molecule by swapping in an isotope or attaching a detectable substance, so that its path through a reaction or a cell can be tracked.

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