suspects

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of suspect.

   Detectives narrowed the field to two suspects within a week.

   All the suspects had alibis for the night of the break-in.

   Note

   A regular plural, formed with -s, of the noun for a person under suspicion, most often of a crime. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb, so the clue is the company it keeps. After the, all the or a number (two suspects), it names people. After a singular subject (the detective suspects), it is the verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of suspect.

   The detective suspects the witness is hiding something.

   Everyone on the team suspects the leak came from inside the office.

   Note

   This is the form that agrees with he, she, it or a singular noun in the present: the detective suspects, everyone suspects. It most often introduces a clause, frequently with that left out, and means supposing something without proof. With a person as its object (she suspects him), it means believing them guilty. The obsolete meaning "to look up to, respect" plays no part in current use.

   She suspects him of taking the money.

   He suspects that the report was rushed.

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