marks

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of mark.

   Scuff marks ran the length of the polished hallway floor.

   Tire marks on the road showed where the car had skidded.

   Note

   A regular plural that still carries some older meanings. In historical writing, the marks may be frontiers, small border principalities, or the common lands of early Germanic peoples, rather than scuffs or signs. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb. A plural noun takes a plural verb (the marks fade), and that is the quickest way to tell the two apart.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of mark.

   The referee marks the spot where the ball crossed the line.

   A bright buoy marks the edge of the shipping channel.

   Note

   The -s form used with he, she, it or a singular noun: the referee marks, a buoy marks. Nearly every use takes a direct object, because something is always being labeled, located or indicated. The figurative use is about lasting harm, as when a loss marks a person for years. Spelled like the plural noun, it is identified by the singular subject in front of it.

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