motors

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of motor.

   Engineers tested the two motors under heavy load before shipping them.

   Modern electric motors run far more quietly than older gasoline engines.

   Note

   One spelling, two jobs: as a noun it counts machines, and the same letters also serve the verb of driving. The plural follows whichever meaning of motor is in play. It can mean electric motors in a workshop, motors as cars and other powered vehicles, or the proteins called motors because they turn chemical energy into mechanical work. The figurative 'driving force' pluralizes the same way: the motors of an economy.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of motor.

   The little boat motors across the bay each morning before the wind picks up.

   She motors along the country lanes whenever the weather turns fine.

   Note

   In the travel sense it is intransitive and takes a direction: she motors along, the boat motors across the bay. The plain 'drives somewhere' use has a dated air. In informal speech it means 'moves briskly' (the project motors along), and in slang it simply means 'leaves'. Aviation keeps a transitive use: a mechanic motors an engine, spinning it with the starter but no fuel.

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