(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
A ~ is an object that has been invented for a particular purpose, for example for recording or measuring something.
...an electronic ~ that protects your vehicle 24 hours a day.
N-COUNT: usu with supp
2.
A ~ is a method of achieving something.
They claim that military spending is used as a ~ for managing the economy.
N-COUNT
3.
If you leave someone to their own ~s, you leave them alone to do as they wish.
Left to his own ~s, Osborn is a fluent–and often original–guitarist.
PHRASE: V inflects