vows

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of vow.

   She wrote her own vows for the wedding ceremony.

   Monastic vows of poverty and obedience bound every member of the order.

   Note

   The plural is where the solemn, often religious meaning settles into fixed pairings. Monastic vows of poverty and obedience are the promises that bind a member of an order, and wedding vows are the promises a couple exchanges. The same spelling also serves the present-tense verb, so in a phrase like "the senator vows" the word is the verb, and in "her own vows" it is the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of vow.

   The senator vows that the bridge will be rebuilt by spring.

   She vows to finish the marathon despite the injury.

   Note

   The -s form goes with he, she, it or a singular noun, and it carries every construction the verb allows. It can stand without an object, take a direct object (he vows revenge), or introduce the promise itself with that or to. Its public use announces a vow to show determination or to warn of retaliation, which is why revenge and retaliation are such natural objects.

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