smooths

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of smooth.

   The carpenter smooths each board until no splinters remain.

   A good mediator smooths over tensions before they turn into open conflict.

   Note

   The verb behind this form nearly always takes an object: someone smooths a board, a crease, a difficulty or a quarrel. In data work it means drawing out the pattern and leaving the noise behind. In West Country speech it can simply mean stroking, as when someone smooths a cat's fur. With over it turns figurative, and the thing smoothed is tension rather than a surface.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of smooth.

   Note

   One spelling covers several quite different plurals, because the noun itself does many jobs. A craftsman's smooths are strokes of the hand or trowel. A breeder's are animals with smooth coats. A statistician's are the results of a smoothing procedure. In 1970s Britain, smooths were members of an anti-hippie fashion movement. After a determiner or a number it is this noun, not the present-tense verb it is spelled like.

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