surveys

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of survey.

   The recent surveys revealed widespread dissatisfaction among employees.

   Researchers mailed thousands of surveys to households across the state.

   Note

   Every sense of the noun pluralizes the same way, so one form covers very different things: questionnaires mailed to households, the opinion studies they feed, and the measured plans a surveyor draws of a stretch of country. Context does the sorting. Surveys sent out or filled in are documents, surveys conducted are studies, and surveys of a coast or district are measurements and maps. The same spelling also serves the verb's present tense.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of survey.

   The inspector surveys every building on the site for safety violations.

   From the hilltop, she surveys the valley spread out below.

   Note

   A present-tense form that always takes an object: she surveys the valley, the firm surveys its customers. What changes is how the looking is done. It can be a broad view from a high place, a scrutinizing inspection of condition or value, measurement by angles and trigonometry, or questions put to people. When the object is a group of people, it means polling them for their opinions or experiences.

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