secretaries

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of secretary.

   The company hired three new secretaries to handle the growing workload.

   Cabinet secretaries met at the White House to discuss the budget.

   Note

   One plural serves every kind of secretary: the office worker who keeps records, the head of a government department, the officer of a party or trade union, the US desk, the secretary bird, and even the obsolete confidant who kept someone's secrets. The spelling follows the regular rule for a consonant before final -y, which becomes -ies. Government titles are often capitalized, so check the capital when the plural names particular office-holders.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of secretary.

   Note

   A verb made straight from the noun: to secretary something is to serve as its secretary, so it normally takes the body served as a direct object, as in she secretaries the committee. The spelling is identical to the plural noun, and only the sentence tells them apart. A singular subject before the word marks the verb, while a number or article before it marks the noun.

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