spheres

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of sphere.

   Astronomers model the giant planets as nearly perfect spheres.

   The sculpture balanced three polished metal spheres on a thin steel rod.

   Note

   The plural is where the old cosmology still speaks: the music of the spheres names the harmony once thought to arise from the concentric transparent globes that carried the heavenly bodies around the Earth. In everyday use the plural divides two ways. It can mean solid round objects, or, figuratively, separate provinces of activity and influence, where it means distinct domains rather than shapes.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of sphere.

   Note

   A verb form that always wants an object: something spheres something else. Both of its meanings are transitive. One is to make a thing round, or even to perfect it. The other is to place it within a sphere, the sense ensphere also carries. Because the noun plural shares the spelling, position decides the reading: a singular subject before it and an object after it.

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