permits

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of permit.

   The city permits overnight parking on most residential streets.

   The contract permits either party to cancel with thirty days' notice.

   Note

   Besides its two transitive patterns (permits something, permits someone to do something), the verb can stand without an object, meaning "makes possible": if time permits, as far as space permits. A more formal intransitive use takes of and leans toward "admits": a text that permits of only one reading. Both turn up most often in conditions and careful written argument.

   The trip goes ahead on Saturday if the weather permits.

   The wording of the clause permits of no other interpretation.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of permit.

   All building permits must be displayed at the work site.

   The agency revoked several fishing permits after the inspection.

   Note

   One spelling covers several unrelated plurals. Permits can be documents that make something legal, learner's permits held by new drivers, or pompano of the species Trachinotus falcatus, a fish that happens to share the name. The surrounding words usually decide which is meant. The same letters also spell the verb's present-tense form, so a headline like "City permits housing" can be read either way.

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