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

fence

/fɛns/ noun, verb

Forms fences fencing fenced

  1. noun A thin artificial barrier that separates two pieces of land or forms a perimeter enclosing the lands of a house, building, etc.
  2. noun (informal) Someone who hides or buys and sells stolen goods, a criminal middleman for transactions of stolen goods.
  3. noun (by extension) The place whence such a middleman operates.
  4. noun Skill in oral debate.
  5. noun (obsolete, uncountable) The art or practice of fencing.
  6. noun A guard or guide on machinery.
  7. noun (figuratively) A barrier, for example an emotional barrier.
  8. noun (Jewish law) A prohibition enacted to prevent violation of another more primary rule.
  9. verb (transitive) To enclose, contain or separate by building fence.
  10. verb (transitive) To defend or guard.
  11. verb (transitive) To engage in the selling or buying of stolen goods.
  12. verb (ambitransitive, sports) To engage in the sport of fencing (against).
  13. verb (intransitive, equestrianism) To jump over a fence.
  14. verb (intransitive) To conceal the truth by giving equivocal answers; to hedge; to be evasive.

Synonyms

fencer pawn fencing fence in wall palisade surround argue contend debate

Etymology

From Middle English fence, fens, short for defence, defens (“the act of defending”), from Old French defens, defense (see defence).
The sense "enclosure" arises in the mid 15th century.
Also from the 15th century is use as a verb in the sense "to enclose with a fence". The generalized sense "to defend, screen, protect" arises ca. 1500. The sense "to fight with swords (rapiers)" is from the 1590s (Shakespeare).
Displaced native Old English heġe (compare Modern English hedge).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun That which fends off attack or danger; a defense; a protection; a cover; security; shield.
  2. noun An inclosure about a field or other space, or about any object; especially, an inclosing structure of wood, iron, or other material, intended to prevent intrusion from without or straying from within.
  3. verb To fend off danger from; to give security to; to protect; to guard.
  4. verb To inclose with a fence or other protection; to secure by an inclosure.

Etymology [Abbrev. from defence.]

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

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “fence” (best matches first).

All 54 Sanskrit matches →