methods

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of method.

   Researchers debated which methods produced the most reliable results.

   Her teaching methods drew praise from parents and colleagues alike.

   Note

   Only the countable meanings take this plural: ways of doing something, the subroutines a programmer attaches to a class or object, techniques of acting. The uncountable sense of order and system has no plural. Someone works with method, not with methods. The purpose usually follows with of, to or for: methods of payment, methods to reduce waste, methods for testing. The same spelling also serves the verb form.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of method.

   The foundry engineer methods each new mold, setting out where the molten metal will enter and how it will cool.

   Before a new component reaches the shop floor, the planning team methods it in detail.

   Note

   A working verb, shown here with a singular subject: the engineer methods the mold, the team methods a part. It is always transitive, so something must follow it. In its narrower use it means treating a mold in a particular way. Because the spelling is far more familiar as the plural noun, the sentence needs a clear singular subject before it and an object after it to read as a verb.

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