rumors

1. 1
   stories going aroundnoun

   Plural of rumor.

   Wild rumors circulated for weeks before the company made an official statement.

   Investors reacted to rumors of a merger before any deal was confirmed.

   Note

   The plural belongs mainly to the countable sense: separate claims passing from mouth to mouth, as in rumors of a merger. When the meaning is the stuff itself, talk in general, the noun usually stays singular (rumor has it). The archaic 'news' sense can be plural too, while the obsolete 'fame' and 'clamor' senses are usually uncountable. The -or spelling is American; British English writes rumours.

2. 2
   spread talkverb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of rumor.

   Note

   The present-tense -s form, spelled exactly like the plural noun, so only the sentence shows which is meant: rumors spread, but the paper rumors a closure. The verb is usually transitive. Its active use is now uncommon, and it survives mostly in the passive construction it is rumored that. Learners will usually sound more natural with the passive than with an active verb.

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