whys

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of why.

   Investigators pressed for the whys behind the company's collapse.

   He could recite the facts, but the whys still eluded him.

   Note

   A question word turned into a countable noun: a why is a reason, so whys are reasons or causes, usually with "the" (the whys behind a decision). It surfaces most often in the fixed pairing "the whys and wherefores." The same spelling also pluralizes two rarer nouns: an obsolete Yorkshire word for a young heifer, and why as a variant name for the letter Y, more usually spelled wye.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of why.

   Note

   An ordinary -s form on a rare verb derived from the interrogative adverb. To why someone is to put the question "why?" to them. It can take an object (she whys each decision) or stand alone (he whys constantly). The spelling is identical to the plural noun, so the sentence tells them apart: after a singular subject it is the verb, and after "the" it is the noun.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2