mollies

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of molly.

   The shelter's two mollies, both spayed, share a sunny perch by the window.

   In the final round, both teams threw mollies to block the doorway with fire.

   Note

   The y of molly turns to ies, as in lily and lilies, so the form is regular even though its meanings are crowded: mollies can be aquarium fish, female cats, wall anchors, gamers' firebombs or, in Ireland, girls and women. The setting does the sorting, and for the fish and the firebombs the same spelling also serves the plural of mollie.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of mollie.

   She keeps a dozen mollies in a planted tank in her office.

   In the film's final battle, the street fighters hurl mollies at the approaching tanks.

   Note

   Here the singular is the rarer spelling. For the fish, once classed in the genus Mollienesia, molly is the more common form and mollie the alternative; for a Molotov cocktail, mollie is informal shorthand built on the name Molotov. In the plural the choice disappears, since the result matches the plural of molly letter for letter.

3. 3
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of molly.

   Note

   Only its place in the sentence tells this verb form from the plural noun: the verb follows a singular subject such as he, while the noun follows an article, a number or an adjective (two mollies). The verb is used of a man, and his partner, also a man, is introduced with with.

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