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

cocktail

UK /ˈkɒk.teɪl/ · US /ˈkɑk.teɪl/ noun, adjective, verb

Forms cocktails ckt cocktailing cocktailed

  1. noun A mixed alcoholic beverage. “They visited a bar noted for its wide range of cocktails.”
  2. noun (figurative, by extension) A mixture of other substances or things. “Scientists found a cocktail of pollutants in the river downstream from the chemical factory.”
  3. noun A horse, not of pure breed, but having only one eighth or one sixteenth impure blood in its veins.
  4. noun (UK, slang, dated) A mean, half-hearted fellow.
  5. noun A species of rove beetle, so called from its habit of elevating the tail.
  6. adjective (obsolete) Ostentatiously lacking in manners.
  7. verb (transitive) To adulterate (fuel, etc.) by mixing in other substances.
  8. verb (transitive) To treat (a person) to cocktails. “He dined and cocktailed her at the most exclusive bars and restaurants.”

Synonyms

mixed drink bouillabaisse bric-a-brac catch-all clamjamfrey rummage salad anthology gallery gatherum congeries crazyquilt disjecta membra farrago galimatias gallimaufry grab bag hodgepodge horse and rabbit stew hotchpotch

Etymology

Early 17th century, from cock (“male bird”) + tail, in the sense “(a horse with its) tail standing up, like a cock’s”. The origin of the extension to “an alcoholic mixed drink” is unknown. One theory is that it refers to a stimulant (gingering), hence a stimulating drink; compare pick-me-up. Another attested use is for non-thoroughbred racehorses: these were considered "cock-tailed" due to their docked tails. This may have led to the term "cocktail" (sense 1) being used for an adulterated spirit.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A beverage made of brandy, whisky, or gin, iced, flavored, and sweetened. [U. S.]
  2. noun A horse, not of pure breed, but having only one eighth or one sixteenth impure blood in his veins. Darwin.

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