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

explosive

UK /ɛkˈspləʊsɪv/ · US /ɛkˈsploʊsɪv/ adjective, noun

Forms explosives

  1. adjective Able to, or likely to, explode. “an explosive device”
  2. adjective Having the character of an explosion. “an explosive fire”
  3. adjective (cellular automata) Of a specific cellular automaton rule, tending to exhibit infinite and unpredictable growth when starting from finite random patterns.
  4. adjective (figurative) Rapidly accelerating. “explosive movements”
  5. adjective (figurative) Shocking; startling. “an explosive accusation”
  6. adjective (slang) Easily driven to anger, usually with reference to a person. “He has an explosive personality.”
  7. adjective (phonetics, archaic) Synonym of plosive. “the explosive consonants”
  8. noun Any explosive substance.
  9. noun (linguistics, dated) A plosive.

Synonyms

plyometric plosive volatile

Antonyms

implosive inert nonflammable nonexplosive

Etymology

From Latin explōs-, stem of the perfect passive participle of explōdō + the suffix -ive.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Driving or bursting out with violence and noise; causing explosion; as, the explosive force of gunpowder.
  2. noun An explosive agent; a compound or mixture susceptible of a rapid chemical reaction, as gunpowder, or nitro-glycerine.
  3. noun A sound produced by an explosive impulse of the breath; (Phonetics) one of consonants p, b, t, d, k, g, which are sounded with a sort of explosive power of voice.

Etymology [Cf. F. explosif.]

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