regulars
- 1Plural of regular.
The café's regulars greeted each other by name as they came in.
Army regulars formed the core of the defending force.
Note
An ordinary -s plural that names several different crowds. In a café or bar, the regulars are the faithful customers; in military contexts, they are full-time soldiers set against reservists: in Britain, against the Territorial Army, and in Singapore, those who serve beyond their required term. In Canada, two regulars can simply be a coffee order, each with one cream and one sugar. The same spelling also gives a thief's share.
- 2A thief's allotted share of the money or goods taken in a robbery.
He refused to leave the alehouse until he was handed his regulars.
The fence held back a portion before paying out everyone's regulars.
Note
Underworld slang from British thieves' cant, now obsolete: the cut each member of a gang expected once the takings were divided. It keeps its plural shape even for one person's portion, so a thief demanded his regulars, not his regular. Today it belongs in historical fiction or writing about criminal slang. A modern reader will hear only the plural of regular, so explain it when you use it.
regulars is a form of regular
regular, noun: A person who often goes to the same place or uses the same business, such as a customer of a bar, shop or restaurant. Full entry
- Forms
- regularregulars plural
- Spelling
- regular → regulars: add -s
Use it in a sentence
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