(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
If you have a ~ in a situation or in society, you have a particular position and function in it.
...the drug’s ~ in preventing more serious effects of infection...
Both sides have ~s to play.
N-COUNT: with supp, oft N in/of/as n
2.
A ~ is one of the characters that an actor or singer can play in a film, play, or opera.
She has just landed the lead ~ in The Young Vic’s latest production...
N-COUNT: usu with supp