updates

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of update.

   The development team released two security updates this week.

   Reporters posted hourly updates as the storm moved inland.

   Note

   A regular -s plural that does double duty: the same spelling is also the present-tense verb form (she updates the file). As a noun it counts separate items, such as hourly updates on a storm or a stack of software releases. In software an update is a minor upgrade, so security updates are small fixes to an existing version rather than a full upgrade.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of update.

   The editor updates the homepage as soon as new figures arrive.

   Each sensor updates the central database in real time.

   Note

   Both meanings of the verb are transitive, so this form usually arrives with an object. That object can be a thing brought up to date, as when the editor updates the homepage. It can also be a person who is told the latest news, as when she updates the team after each meeting. Software that refreshes on its own is idiomatically said to update itself.

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