nets

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of net.

   Workers repaired the torn nets before the boats set out at dawn.

   Groundskeepers replaced the goal nets at both ends of the field.

   Note

   The plural runs across every meaning of the singular: a fisherman's nets, butterfly nets, the nets of a trap, even the flat folding patterns a geometry class cuts out to build a polyhedron. The same spelling is also the present-tense verb (she nets a fish). A word like the, two or their in front of it marks the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of net.

   The keeper nets every loose ball that drifts toward the goal.

   After expenses, the venture nets the family a modest income.

   Note

   The -s form carries every verb meaning of net: a trawler nets fish, a striker nets a goal, a careless player nets the ball, and a schemer nets a victim. Only he, she, it or a singular noun takes it, while I, you, we and they keep plain net. Unlike the plural noun, it follows its subject.

3. 3
   noun

   A training session held before a cricket match in which both bowlers and batsmen, and sometimes backups, practice.

   The openers hit the nets early on the morning of the final to work against the new ball.

   The coach extended nets after a poor batting display in the previous game.

   Similarpractice

   Note

   Cricket names its practice after the netting that surrounds it. A batter faces bowlers in a long netted lane, so the ball cannot run off across the ground. The word stays plural, with or without the: players hit the nets hours before a match, or look sharp in nets. It names the session as much as the place.

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