segments

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of segment.

   Engineers inspected each of the bridge's main segments for cracks.

   The worm's body is made up of many repeating segments.

   Note

   The noun plural is spelled exactly like the verb form, so the surrounding words decide which is meant: a determiner or adjective in front (the main segments) marks the noun. It covers every kind of piece the singular names, from the sections of a worm or a bridge to the geometer's: lengths of line between two points, the parts of a circle cut off by a chord, slices of a sphere cut by a plane.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of segment.

   The algorithm segments the recording into individual spoken words.

   A good editor segments a dense report into clear, readable sections.

   Note

   A verb that works with or without an object. With one, an agent does the dividing: the algorithm segments a recording. Without one, the thing divides of its own accord, along its natural lines. The verb needs a singular subject in the present tense. When a subject comes before it and something follows, it is the verb and not the plural noun.

   When the market segments by age, each group needs its own campaign.

   The image segments cleanly once the contrast is raised.

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