Yes, states is a Scrabble word!

Verb

1. Express in words

2. Put before

3. Indicate through a symbol, formula, etc.

Noun

1. The territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation

2. The way something is with respect to its main attributes

3. The group of people comprising the government of a sovereign state

4. A politically organized body of people under a single government

5. (chemistry) the three traditional states of matter are solids (fixed shape and volume) and liquids (fixed volume and shaped by the container) and gases (filling the container)

6. A state of depression or agitation

7. The territory occupied by a nation

8. The federal department in the United States that sets and maintains foreign policies