regards

1. 1
   nounplural

   A polite closing expression placed at the end of a letter or email to convey good wishes.

   Like a warm wave as you walk out the door.

   She finished every email with regards, even to people she barely knew.

   The note ended simply with regards and an illegible signature.

   Note

   The sign-off formula needs no verb and no possessive. It stands alone before the signature, capitalized and followed by a comma: Regards, John. An adjective in front changes its tone, as in Kind regards, Peter. Unlike the relayed greeting, nothing passes through anyone else. The writer offers the good wishes straight to the reader in the act of closing.

2. 2
   nounplural

   Good wishes that one person asks another to convey to a third person.

   Like handing a kind message to a friend to deliver for you.

   He sent his warmest regards to his old colleagues through a mutual friend.

   Please pass along my regards to your grandmother.

   Similargreetings, wishes, respects, compliments

   Note

   Here the plural is the whole word. A single regard cannot be sent, so the singular never carries this greeting. It usually follows a possessive and points onward with to: give my regards to your brother, send her regards to the family. Warmth goes in front as an adjective, as in warmest regards, and the wishes always travel through a go-between.

3. 3
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of regard.

   The court regards such evidence as inadmissible.

   She regards the whole affair with deep suspicion.

   Note

   Every sense of the verb is transitive, so regards always needs an object: she regards the offer warily. With as, it means to consider something in a given way: the court regards it as settled. The "concern" sense survives in phrasing like as regards the budget. The "hold in esteem" sense of the verb is obsolete, and that meaning now belongs to the noun.

4. 4
   noun

   Plural of regard.

   He extended his regards to the visiting delegation.

   Convey my regards to your colleagues at the conference.

   Note

   This spelling does triple duty, and only part of it is a true plural. Only the countable senses of regard pluralize: steady looks or gazes, and particular aspects or details, as in "in several regards." Regard meaning worth or estimation is uncountable and has no plural. The same letters also spell the plural-only "good wishes" noun and the present-tense verb, so only context tells them apart.

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