spaces

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of space.

   The architect left wide open spaces between the office buildings.

   Cramped living spaces are common in the older part of the city.

   Note

   A regular plural, and one that belongs to the countable uses of space: gaps between objects, areas set aside to live or work in. When space means an unbounded extent, the vacuum beyond the atmosphere, or freedom to be yourself, it is usually uncountable and stays singular. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb form, as in she spaces the chairs evenly. Word order tells the two apart.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of space.

   The gardener spaces the seedlings a foot apart in each row.

   The software automatically spaces the columns to fit the page.

   Note

   The present-tense form that goes with he, she, it or a singular noun, as in the gardener spaces the seedlings. In its arranging senses it takes a direct object: it spaces the rows, it spaces the words on a line. The phrasal space out works differently. It needs no object and means drifting off, as in he spaces out in long meetings. The old sense of roaming or wandering is obsolete.

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