raises

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of raise.

   The crane raises heavy steel beams to the top floor.

   Every new finding raises further questions about the model.

   Note

   The -s form of a verb that normally takes an object, because to raise is to make something else rise: a crane raises beams, a finding raises questions. Its intransitive partner is rise, so the sun rises but a flag is raised. The same spelling also serves as a noun, the plural for pay increases and bets, and only the surrounding sentence tells the two apart.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of raise.

   Annual raises helped employees keep up with rising living costs.

   The union negotiated modest raises across every department.

   Note

   A plural that spans several trades at once. In American workplaces it counts pay increases. At a poker table it counts bets that top the previous one, and in curling, shots that bump another stone forward. Underground it means shafts dug upward from below, and in the gym it means shoulder exercises that lift the arms against resistance. It can even name cairns, piles of stones. Context alone decides which is meant.

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