transports

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of transport.

   Naval transports ferried thousands of troops across the channel that night.

   The sudden transports of joy left her almost unable to speak.

   Note

   Each countable meaning of the noun takes this plural, so one spelling covers troop ships and freight carriers, Canadian tractor-trailers, the tape mechanisms inside recorders, and sudden rushes of feeling. The emotional meaning pairs naturally with of, as in transports of joy. The same spelling is also the present-tense verb, and a word like the, two or naval in front of it marks the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of transport.

   The pipeline transports natural gas to several cities in the region.

   A single ferry transports up to two hundred vehicles per crossing.

   Note

   The present-tense form after he, she, it or a singular noun carries every meaning of the verb. Most often it moves goods or people: a pipeline transports gas. In the figurative use, music or a memory transports a listener. In historical contexts, a court transports a convict to a penal colony. Each use takes a direct object, and to often marks the destination.

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