tolerances

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of tolerance.

   The blueprint listed the tolerances for each dimension of the gear.

   Patients build up tolerances to certain medications over time.

   Note

   The plural mostly belongs to measurement. In the 'permitted variation' meaning tolerances are counted: a drawing lists one for each dimension. The meaning of patience with others' beliefs stays singular, so we show tolerance, not tolerances, toward others. Ecologists use the plural too: Donald G. Kaufman and Cecilia M. Franz's Biosphere 2000 describes organisms with wide or narrow ranges of tolerances. The same spelling also serves as the engineering verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of tolerance.

   Before a drawing leaves the design office, the senior engineer tolerances every critical dimension on it.

   The dental lab tolerances each crown so it seats snugly on the patient's prepared tooth.

   Note

   Here the word becomes an engineer's verb. To tolerance a part is to set how far each of its dimensions may stray from the standard. It takes the part or the dimension as its direct object: someone tolerances a shaft, a bore or a whole drawing. It never means "puts up with." That verb is tolerates, and the two are easy to mix up in quick reading.

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