researches

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of research.

   He carefully researches every claim before publishing an article.

   Each analyst researches a different segment of the market.

   Note

   The -es ending is the one English gives to stems closing in a ch sound, as in reaches and teaches. It makes this form identical in spelling to the countable noun plural. The verb works two ways: it takes a direct object (she researches the claim) or runs intransitively with into (she researches into its origins). Less often it means simply "searches again."

2. 2
   nounrare

   Plural of research. Rare and formal; research is usually uncountable.

   The professor published his researches on ancient languages in three volumes.

   Her botanical researches eventually reshaped how the species was classified.

   Note

   A count plural for a word that mostly refuses to be counted. Research is usually a mass noun. The use that allows researches, meaning a single study or investigation, is marked dated. The Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry could still write of "a number of researches" in 1962. In current prose, pieces of research or plain research is the safer choice. Researches now reads as old-fashioned.

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