Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

bicycle

/ˈbaɪsɪk(ə)l/ noun, verb

Forms bicycles bicycling bicycled

  1. noun A vehicle that has two primary wheels, one behind the other, a steering handle, and a saddle seat or seats and is usually propelled by the action of a rider’s feet upon pedals.
  2. noun (by extension, sometimes proscribed) Any similar vehicle powered by human pedaling or steered with a handlebar, regardless of the number of wheels.
  3. noun A traveling block used on a cable in skidding logs.
  4. noun The best possible hand in lowball.
  5. noun (UK, Australia, New Zealand) A motorbike.
  6. noun (vulgar slang, usually in compounds specifying a context) A slut; a promiscuous woman.
  7. noun (climbing) A stabilizing technique in which one foot is pushed down while the other is pulled up.
  8. noun (poker slang) The wheel: either the lowest straight (A-2-3-4-5) or the best low hand in Lowball or High-low poker.
  9. verb (ambitransitive) To travel or exercise using a bicycle.
  10. verb (television, historical, transitive) To physically ship (a recorded programme) to another broadcasting entity.

Synonyms

bike pushbike two-wheeler velocipede town bicycle village bicycle wheel celeripede cycle pedal

Etymology

Borrowed from French bicycle (modern bicyclette), from bi- (“two”) + cycle (“cycle”). By surface analysis, bi- + cycle. First attested in English in 1868, and in French in 1847.
(promiscuous woman): From double meaning of ride ("to transport oneself upon" vs. "to mount someone to have sex with them"). A communal bicycle would have many riders.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A light vehicle having two wheels one behind the other. It has a saddle seat and is propelled by the rider's feet acting on cranks or levers.

Etymology [Pref. bi- + cycle.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bicycle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details