syncs

1. 1
   verbcolloquial

   Third-person singular simple present of sync.

   The calendar syncs across all of her devices without any manual effort.

   A backup tool that syncs files in real time saves a lot of headaches.

   Note

   Here the clipped verb takes its ordinary -s after a singular subject: the app syncs, the phone syncs. Besides general synchronizing, it carries a narrower programmer's meaning: flushing all pending input and output operations to disk. A system that syncs before shutting down is saving its work, not matching clocks. Like the plural noun, it keeps the informal edge of a clipping.

2. 2
   nouncolloquial

   Plural of sync.

   She scheduled nightly syncs between the two databases to keep them aligned.

   Frequent syncs across the office calendars cut down on double-booked meetings.

   Note

   The countable side of a word that usually is not. Sync, a clipping of synchronization or synchrony, mostly works as a mass noun, as in keeping things in sync. Once each round of coordinating becomes a separate event, such as a nightly database job or a calendar update, it can be counted, and the plural appears. The 'harmony' meaning resists the plural, so syncs points to the technical uses.

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