prints

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of print.

   The gallery displayed limited-edition prints by several local artists.

   He collects vintage prints of old city maps.

   Note

   Only the countable meanings of print carry over into the plural. Prints can be visible impressions on a surface, fingerprints (police lift prints from a glass), or newspapers. Print as a medium, as clear handwriting, or as the letters of a text stays uncountable: a document has print, not prints. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb form, so context decides which you are reading.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of print.

   The newspaper prints a correction whenever it makes a factual error.

   This press prints thousands of copies an hour.

   Note

   The -s form keeps both constructions the verb allows. With an object it means producing copies or publishing (the paper prints a correction). Without one it can mean writing in separate, unjoined letters (she prints rather than writes in cursive), or simply publishing. It looks exactly like the plural noun, and its role in the sentence tells them apart: a press prints, but a collector buys prints.

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