morals

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of moral.

   Their morals prevented them from accepting the bribe.

   The old fables impart clear morals about honesty and greed.

   Note

   Two different plurals share one spelling. When a fable has several morals, each is a separate lesson, and you can count them: one moral, three morals. When a person has morals, the word means their principles of conduct, and that meaning lives in the plural, with no natural singular. A quick test: if "a moral" makes sense in the sentence, you are dealing with lessons.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of moral.

   Note

   A verb form that shares its spelling with the plural noun, so only the sentence tells them apart. The verb moral means "to moralize," and it is intransitive. You moral about or upon something rather than moral it, so a preposition follows. The verb is now rare, and moralizes is the form most readers will expect in its place.

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