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

flounder

UK /ˈflaʊ̯ndəː/ · US /ˈflaʊ̯ndɚ/ noun, verb

Forms flounders floundering floundered

  1. noun A European species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, European flounder (Platichthys flesus).
  2. noun (Canada, US) Any of various flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae or Bothidae.
  3. noun A bootmaker's tool for crimping boot fronts.
  4. verb (intransitive) To act clumsily or confused; to struggle or be flustered. “He gave a good speech, but floundered when audience members asked questions he could not answer well.”
  5. verb (intransitive) To flop around as a fish out of water.
  6. verb (intransitive) To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance. “Robert yanked Connie's leg vigorously, causing her to flounder and eventually fall.”
  7. verb To be in serious difficulty.

Synonyms

faulter stagger

Etymology

From Middle English flowndre, from Anglo-Norman floundre, from Old Northern French flondre, from Old Norse flyðra, from Proto-Germanic *flunþrijǭ. Cognate with Danish flynder, German Flunder, Swedish flundra.

Possibly from the noun. Probably a blend of flounce + founder or a blend of founder + blunder or from Dutch flodderen (“wade”). See other terms beginning with fl, such as flutter, flitter, float, flap, flub, flip.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A flatfish of the family Pleuronectidæ, of many species.
  2. noun A tool used in crimping boot fronts.
  3. verb To fling the limbs and body, as in making efforts to move; to struggle, as a horse in the mire, or as a fish on land; to roll, toss, and tumble; to flounce.
  4. noun The act of floundering.

Etymology [Cf. Sw. flundra; akin to Dan. flynder, Icel. fly, G. flunder, and perh. to E. flounder, v.i.]

Etymology [Cf. D. flodderen to flap, splash through mire, E. flounce, v.i., and flounder the fish.]

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