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

diaphragm

/ˈdaɪəˌfɹæm/ noun, verb

Forms diaphragms diaphragming diaphragmed

  1. noun (anatomy) In mammals, a sheet of muscle separating the thorax from the abdomen, contracted and relaxed in respiration to draw air into and expel air from the lungs. “thoracic diaphragm”
  2. noun (anatomy) Any of various membranes or sheets of muscle or ligament which separate one cavity from another.
  3. noun A contraceptive device consisting of a flexible cup, used to cover the cervix during intercourse. “cervical diaphragm”
  4. noun (mechanics) A flexible membrane separating two chambers and fixed around its periphery that distends into one or other chamber as the difference in the pressure in the chambers varies.
  5. noun (acoustics) In a speaker, the thin, semi-rigid membrane which vibrates to produce sound. “acoustic diaphragm”
  6. noun (optics, photography) A thin opaque structure with a central aperture, used to limit the passage of light into a camera or similar device.
  7. noun (chemistry) A permeable or semipermeable membrane.
  8. noun (construction) A floor slab, metal wall panel, roof panel or the like, having a sufficiently large in-plane shear stiffness and sufficient strength to transmit horizontal forces to resisting systems.
  9. verb (optics, photography) To reduce lens aperture using an optical diaphragm.
  10. verb To act as a diaphragm, for example by vibrating.

Synonyms

stop midriff pessary contraceptive diaphragm

Etymology

From Middle English diafragma, Ancient Greek διάφραγμα (diáphragma, “partition”), from διά (diá, “across”) and φράγμα (phrágma, “barrier”), from the verb φράσσω (phrássō). First attested in the late 14th century.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A dividing membrane or thin partition, commonly with an opening through it.
  2. noun The muscular and tendinous partition separating the cavity of the chest from that of the abdomen; the midriff.

Etymology [L. diaphragma, Gr. fareire to stuff: cf. F. diaphragme. See Farce.]

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