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

halfback

/ˈhæfˌbæk/ noun, verb

Forms halfbacks halfbacking halfbacked

  1. noun (field sports) Any of various positions on the field of play between the forwards and the fullbacks.
  2. noun (American football) An offensive back whose primary jobs are to carry the ball on running plays and to serve as a receiver or blocker on passing plays.
  3. noun (Canadian football) A defensive back whose primary jobs are to cover the slotback on passing plays and prevent running plays from going to the outside.
  4. noun (field hockey) A player in the halfback position, with both offensive and defensive roles.
  5. noun (Australian rules football) One of three players (the centre halfback and two halfback flankers) on the line between the centre line and the fullback line.
  6. noun (rugby) The player who feeds the ball into the scrum, and receives the ball as it emerges from the back of the scrum.
  7. noun A person from the northern United States who moves to Florida, but then due to the heat or other issues, moves again to a more temperate climate, primarily the Carolinas.
  8. verb To play in the position of halfback.

Etymology

From half + back, in reference to position on the field of play; compare fullback.
In the sense of someone who moves to Florida and then to a more temperate climate, from moving "half way back"

Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “halfback”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details