vans
- 1Plural of van.
The delivery vans lined up at the loading dock before dawn.
Police vans blocked both ends of the narrow street.
Note
One spelling covers several plurals. There are the motor vans of a delivery fleet and the enclosed goods wagons of British railways. There are also the light tradesmen's wagons of dated usage, and the vans that are a clipping of vanguard. The same letters also spell the present-tense verb. After a singular subject, vans is a verb: she vans the horses to the show.
- 2Third-person singular simple present of van.
Note
Agreement here belongs to a verb whose main use is carrying something by van, and horses are the typical cargo. Online, the verb also means to arrest, from party van. A sentence like "the government vans its critics" means detention, and no vehicle is needed. A separate, technical verb means washing a small portion of ore on a shovel. It shares the spelling but not the transport idea.
Showing meanings only.
vans is a form of van
van, noun: A covered, roughly box-shaped motor vehicle used to carry goods or a small number of passengers, larger than a car but smaller than a truck or bus. Full entry
- Forms
- vanvans plural
- Spelling
- van → vans: add -s
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /z/.
Use it in a sentence
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