states

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of state.

   Several neighboring states signed a treaty to share the river's water.

   The patient swung between states of calm and sudden panic.

   Note

   The regular plural serves nearly every meaning of the noun: neighboring states, sovereign states, the states of matter, states of calm and panic. It takes a plural verb, as in the states agree. The same spelling is also the verb form, but position settles which is meant: in the states agree it is the subject, in the report states it is the verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of state.

   The report states that the bridge needs urgent repairs.

   Article 2 of the contract states the price in US dollars.

   Note

   The verb takes this form after he, she, it or a singular noun, and it is nearly always followed by what is said: a that clause (the report states that the bridge needs repairs) or a direct object (the contract states the price). Its subject is often a document rather than a person, and the verb presents what follows as fact, clearly and definitely.

3. 3
   proper noun · Statescolloquialabbreviationellipsis

   Short for United States, used informally and chiefly outside the US.

   He has lived in Canada for years but still goes back to the States every Christmas.

   Their band is touring the States for the first time this spring.

   Note

   The short name always takes the and a capital: people go to the States, live in the States, come back to the States. It belongs chiefly to speakers outside the country, Americans abroad among them; at home the usual choices are the US or America.

4. 4
   proper noun · StateshistoricalUS

   The parts of the United States made up of states, as distinct from its territories.

   Soldiers stationed in Hawaii before the war waited weeks for letters from the States.

   The structure will house the United States Army signal corps office which maintains radio and cable communication between Alaska and the States

   1935, “Ketchikan, Alaska, to Get New Federal Building”, in Christian Science Monitor

   Note

   This is the territories' view of the country: in 1935 the Christian Science Monitor could describe radio links between Alaska and the States, as though the full states lay somewhere else. Today the same phrase usually means the whole United States, so this narrower meaning needs a historical setting to read correctly.

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