spells

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of spell.

   Ancient grimoires recorded spells for healing and protection.

   Dizzy spells sent her to the doctor last week.

   Note

   One regular plural serves several unrelated nouns. It covers the formulas recorded in a grimoire, the shifts a crew works in turn, and stretches of time that usually come with a qualifier: dizzy spells, cold spells, dry spells. That qualifier tells the reader which kind is meant. The same spelling also serves as the verb's present form, as in she spells it wrong.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of spell.

   The teacher spells each new term aloud before the class copies it.

   Her name looks simple, but she spells it with two n's.

   Note

   The -s form is most interesting where the subject is not a person. Letters can be the subject: C-A-T spells cat. So can an event: a late frost spells trouble. In that use, spells means "signals what is coming" and usually takes a single noun, such as trouble, disaster or ruin. Saying a word letter by letter is only one of its jobs.

   Another delay spells trouble for the launch.

   Those four letters spell the name; read together, the sequence spells nothing at all.

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