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

volunteer

UK /ˌvɒl(ə)nˈtɪə/ · US /ˌvɑlənˈtɪɹ/ noun, verb

Forms volunteers volunteering volunteered

  1. noun One who enters into, or offers themselves for, any service of their own free will, especially when done without pay. “The volunteers at the nature reserve meet up ever other Sunday to help its upkeep.”
  2. noun (military) One who enters into military service voluntarily (but who, when in service, is subject to discipline and regulations like other soldiers), as opposed to a conscript.
  3. noun (military) A voluntary member of the organized militia of a country, as distinguished from a regular or member of the standing army.
  4. noun (law) A person who acts out of their own will without a legal obligation, such as a donor.
  5. noun (botany, agriculture) A plant that grows spontaneously, without being cultivated on purpose; see volunteer plant in Wikipedia.
  6. noun A native or resident of the American state of Tennessee.
  7. verb (intransitive) To enlist oneself as a volunteer.
  8. verb (ambitransitive) To do or offer to do something voluntarily. “to volunteer for doing the dishes”
  9. verb (transitive) To offer, usually unprompted. “to volunteer an explanation”
  10. verb (transitive, informal) To offer the services of (someone else) to do something. “My sister volunteered me to do the dishes.”
  11. verb (intransitive, botany) To grow without human sowing or intentional cultivation.

Synonyms

military volunteer voluntary unpaid worker Tennessean offer unpaid

Antonyms

draftee

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French voluntaire, from Latin voluntārius (“willing, voluntary”); or from voluntary + -eer.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun One who enters into, or offers for, any service of his own free will.
  2. noun One who enters into service voluntarily, but who, when in service, is subject to discipline and regulations like other soldiers; --opposed to conscript; specifically, a voluntary member of the organized militia of a country as distinguished from the standing army.
  3. adjective Of or pertaining to a volunteer or volunteers; consisting of volunteers; voluntary; as, volunteer companies; volunteer advice.
  4. verb To offer or bestow voluntarily, or without solicitation or compulsion; as, to volunteer one's services.

Etymology [F. volontaire. See Voluntary, a.]

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