results

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of result.

   The election results surprised most analysts.

   Researchers published their results in a peer-reviewed journal.

   Note

   In the plural, result does much of its everyday work: final scores at the end of a game, findings a study reports, the returns of an election. In its broad sense of a favorable outcome it often stands bare, as when a method gets results and means good ones, with no adjective needed. The identical spelling is also the verb form, recognizable by the in or from that follows it.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of result.

   A sudden drop in temperature results in ice forming on the roads.

   Her dedication results from years of disciplined practice.

   Note

   Two prepositions point it in opposite directions. Results in names what follows: decomposition results in the formation of a new compound. Results from names what came first: skill results from practice. Swapping them reverses cause and effect, so check which end of the chain the subject sits at. A rarer legal use also survives. An estate that results returns to its proprietor or heirs after a reversion.

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