marvels

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of marvel.

   The museum's new wing is devoted to the engineering marvels of the ancient world.

   Antibiotics were among the great medical marvels of the twentieth century.

   Note

   Only the countable meaning has a plural: marvels are the things that cause wonder, from feats of engineering to prodigies and portents. The archaic use of marvel for astonishment itself names a feeling rather than things one can count. In he marvels at the stars, the same spelling is the verb of being amazed, not the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of marvel.

   Nearly every visitor marvels at the sheer size of the redwoods.

   Standing at the rim of the canyon, he says nothing and simply marvels.

   Note

   The living verb is intransitive and takes at for whatever amazes: she marvels at the view, or simply marvels, with nothing after it. Its transitive uses, wondering at something directly or making someone wonder, are obsolete, so the view marvels her is not current English.

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