probes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of probe.

   Surgeons rely on slender probes to explore narrow cavities.

   The agency launched several probes toward the outer planets.

   Note

   A regular -s plural that gathers every kind of probe under one spelling: a surgeon's slender instruments, refueling tubes on aircraft, and the figurative probes that are investigations or inquiries. The same letters also spell the present-tense verb, so look at what comes before the word. After a determiner or number (several probes, the probes) it is the noun. After a singular subject (the journalist probes) it is the verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of probe.

   The journalist probes deeper whenever an answer sounds rehearsed.

   A careful surgeon probes the cavity before making any incision.

   Note

   The present-tense form used with he, she or it, and it works with or without an object. In "a surgeon probes the cavity" the object is stated. In "a journalist probes deeper" the questioning stands alone. The two meanings behave differently here. The literal one, inserting a probe, always needs an object. Only the investigating sense can do without one.

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