mounts

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of mount.

   The cavalry led their tired mounts toward the stables at dusk.

   The museum displays its rare coins on dark velvet mounts behind glass.

   Note

   One spelling gathers several unrelated plurals: the horses a cavalry rides, hills and mountains, the seven fleshy pads a palm reader studies, and the green hillocks at the base of heraldic shields. Context sorts them quickly, because only horses are ridden. Two older uses, a defensive mound and a bank or fund, are obsolete. The same letters also spell the present-tense verb, as in tension mounts.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of mount.

   Tension mounts in the room as the jury prepares to return its verdict.

   The technician carefully mounts the lens onto the camera body before the shoot.

   Note

   Nearly every use takes an object: she mounts the stairs, he mounts the horse, a grappler mounts an opponent on the ground. Without an object it means rising or growing, and up often follows: pressure mounts, costs mount up. That intransitive use is the one figurative writing leans on. An older causative sense, "to raise something up," is obsolete and best avoided.

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