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

gaff

/ɡæf/ noun, verb, proper noun

Also a form of gaffe

Forms gaffs gaffing gaffed gaf

  1. noun A tool consisting of a large metal hook with a handle or pole, especially the one used to pull large fish aboard a boat.
  2. noun A minor error or faux pas, a gaffe. “We politely ignored his gaff.”
  3. noun A trick or con. “The sideshow feat was just a gaff, but the audience was too proud to admit they'd been fooled.”
  4. noun (nautical) The upper spar used to control a gaff-rigged sail.
  5. noun (LGBTQ) A type of tight, panty-like underwear worn to hold the penis and testicles tucked backwards and make one's genital region look smooth, as if one had a vulva.
  6. verb To use a gaff, especially to land a fish.
  7. verb To cheat or hoax.
  8. verb (transitive) To doctor or modify for deceptive purposes.
  9. verb (slang, obsolete) To gamble, especially by tossing coins.
  10. verb (transitive, informal) To affix gaffer tape to, or cover with gaffer tape.
  11. noun Rough or harsh treatment; criticism.
  12. noun (dated) An outcry; nonsense.
  13. noun (UK, Ireland, slang) A place of residence. “We're going round to Mike's gaff later to watch the footie.”
  14. noun (UK, slang, dated) A disreputable, low-end theatre.
  15. proper noun A surname.

Synonyms

hakapik

Etymology

From Middle English gaffe, from Old French gaffe, from Old Occitan gaf (“hook”), derivative of gafar (“to seize”), from 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (giban, “to give”). Doublet of gaffe.
Etymology 1, noun sense 5 apparently derives from the idea that the garment tricks or deceives others about the wearer's genitalia.

Perhaps from Old English gafsprǣc (“buffoonery, scurrility; blasphemous or ribald speech”), from Old English gaf (“base, vile, lewd”) + Old English sprǣc (“language, speech, talk”). Compare Old English gaffetung, gafettung (“scoffing, mockery, derision”).

Unknown. Possibly from Etymology 1, via a sense of “a place that will be robbed” in criminal argot; possibly from Etymology 2, via a sense of "cheap theatre"; possibly from Romani gav (“village”) (whence German Kaff (“village”)).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A barbed spear or a hook with a handle, used by fishermen in securing heavy fish.
  2. noun The spar upon which the upper edge of a fore-and-aft sail is extended.
  3. verb To strike with a gaff or barbed spear; to secure by means of a gaff; as, to gaff a salmon.

Etymology [OE. gaffe, F. gaffe an iron hook with which seamen pull great fishes into their ships; cf. Ir. gaf, gafa hook; perh. akin to G. gabel fork, Skr. gabhasti. CF. Gaffle, Gable.]

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