profits

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of profit.

   Quarterly profits exceeded the analysts' expectations by a wide margin.

   The board agreed to reinvest most of the year's profits into research.

   Note

   A plural that mostly belongs to the money sense, where profit is countable: quarterly profits, the year's profits, profits from several ventures. Uncountable profit names gain in general (sold for profit), while the plural adds up separate sums. The noun is also countable in its dated, literary meaning of benefit and as a legal shortening of profit à prendre, so the plural can appear in those settings too.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of profit.

   He profits handsomely from the family business each season.

   A patient investor often profits when the market eventually recovers.

   Note

   The -s form works in two opposite constructions. Used intransitively, its subject is the one who gains: she profits from the sale. Used transitively, its subject is the thing that helps someone: the deal profits no one. The spelling is shared with the plural noun, so a phrase like "the company profits" can be read either as a clause or as a noun phrase.

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