sheds

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of shed.

   The estate's old storage sheds were converted into artist studios.

   Coastal fishing villages often kept their nets in small sheds near the docks.

   Note

   The plural reaches beyond garden huts. Weavers count sheds too: each is the opening between the upper and lower warp yarns through which the weft is passed. Older senses, such as a dividing line, a parting in the hair or the top of the head, have fallen out of use. Today the plural usually means small outbuildings, these gaps in the loom, or patches of land marked off from their surroundings.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of shed.

   This old oak sheds its leaves earlier than the trees around it.

   The lamp sheds a warm glow across the reading desk.

   Note

   Here the -s marks a verb whose meanings all involve letting something go. A tree sheds leaves and a snake sheds its skin (casting off); a lamp sheds light (giving off); a wound sheds blood (letting flow). It also works without an object: the dog sheds every spring. Position separates it from the plural noun, because after a singular subject it is the verb.

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