subjects

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of subject.

   The survey covered a wide range of subjects, from health to housing.

   Loyal subjects lined the road to greet the returning monarch.

   Note

   One plural serves each of the noun's meanings: the subjects on a school timetable, the subjects of a monarch, the topics of a paper or discussion, even the grammatical subjects of clauses. Context decides which is meant, and the company it keeps usually makes this clear: loyal subjects belong to a crown, while core subjects belong to a curriculum. The same spelling also does duty as the verb form.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of subject.

   The factory subjects every component to rigorous inspection before shipping.

   He subjects his own arguments to relentless scrutiny.

   Note

   The verb rarely stands alone. It takes an object and then a phrase with to, as in subjects every component to inspection. What follows to is typically something unwanted or demanding, such as scrutiny, pressure or criticism. In speech the stress shifts to the second syllable, which is how the ear tells it apart from the plural noun, stressed on the first.

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