Merriam-Webster's Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster [4]
night … noun
fore·foot … noun
mo·nog·a·my … noun
Nouns that are plural in form and that are regularly construed as plural are labeled noun plural:
munch·ies … noun plural
Nouns that are plural in form but that are not always construed as plurals are appropriately labeled:
lo·gis·tics … noun singular or plural
Verbs
The principal parts of verbs are shown in this dictionary when suffixation brings about a doubling of a final consonant or an elision of a final -e or a change of final -y to -i-, when final -c changes to -ck in suffixation, when the verb ends in -ey, when the inflection is irregular, when there are variant inflected forms, and when it is believed that the dictionary user might have reasonable doubts about the spelling of an inflected form or when the inflected form is spelled in a way contrary to what is expected:
2snag verb snagged; snag·ging
1move … verb moved; mov·ing
1cry … verb cried; cry·ing
1frol·ic … verb frol·icked; frol·ick·ing
1sur·vey … verb sur·veyed; sur·vey·ing
1drive … verb drove … driv·en … driv·ing
2bus verb bused or bussed; bus·ing or bus·sing
2visa verb vi·saed … vi·sa·ing
2chagrin verb cha·grined … cha·grin·ing
The principal parts of a regularly inflected verb are shown when it is desirable to indicate the pronunciation of one of the inflected forms:
learn … verb learned /ˈlərnd, ˈlərnt/; learn·ing
1al·ter /ˈȯl-tər/ verb al·tered; al·ter·ing /-t(ə-)riŋ/
Cutback inflected forms are usually used when the verb has three or more syllables, when it is a two-syllable word that ends in -l and has variant spellings, and when it is a compound whose second element is readily recognized as an irregular verb:
elim·i·nate … verb -nat·ed; -nat·ing
2quarrel verb -reled or -relled; -rel·ing or -rel·ling
1re·take … verb -took … -tak·en … -tak·ing
The principal parts of verbs are usually not shown when the base word is unchanged by suffixation or when the verb is a compound whose second element is readily recognizable as a regular free form entered at its own place:
1jump … verb
pre·judge … verb
Another inflected form of English verbs is the third person singular of the present tense, which is regularly formed by the addition of -s or -es to the base form of the verb. This inflected form is not shown except at a handful of entries (as have and do) for which it is in some way unusual.
Adjectives & Adverbs
The comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs are shown in this dictionary when suffixation brings about a doubling of a final consonant or an elision of a final -e or a change of final -y to -i-, when the word ends in -ey, when the inflection is irregular, and when there are variant inflected forms:
1red … adjective red·der; red·dest
1tame … adjective tam·er; tam·est
1kind·ly … adjective kind·li·er; -est
hors·ey also horsy … adjective hors·i·er; -est
1good … adjective bet·ter … best
1far … adverb far·ther … or fur·ther … far·thest or fur·thest
The superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs of two or more syllables are usually cut back:
3fancy adjective fan·ci·er; -est
1ear·ly … adverb ear·li·er; -est
The comparative and superlative forms of regularly inflected adjectives and adverbs are shown when it is desirable to indicate the pronunciation of the inflected forms:
1young /ˈyəŋ/ adjective youn·ger /ˈyəŋ-gər/ youn·gest /ˈyəŋ-gəst/
The inclusion of inflected forms in -er and -est at adjective and adverb entries means nothing more about the use of more and most with these adjectives and adverbs than that their comparative and superlative degrees may be expressed in either way: lazier or more lazy; laziest or most lazy.
At a few adjective entries only the superlative form is shown:
2mere adjective, superlative mer·est
The absence of the comparative form indicates that there is no evidence of its use.
The comparative