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

handicap

/ˈhændikæp/ noun, verb

Forms handicaps handicapping handicapped

  1. noun Something that prevents, hampers, or hinders. “Age is often a handicap.”
  2. noun (sports) An allowance of a certain amount of time or distance in starting, granted in a race (or other contest of skill) to the competitor possessing disadvantages; or an additional weight or other hindrance imposed upon the one possessing advantages, in order to equalize, as much as possible, the chances of success. “The older boy won, even though his opponent had been granted a handicap of five meters.”
  3. noun (sometimes considered offensive) An individual's physical or mental disadvantage or disability.
  4. noun A race or similar contest in which there is an allowance of time, distance, weight, or other advantage, to equalize the chances of the competitors.
  5. noun (obsolete, uncountable, card games) An old card game, similar to lanterloo.
  6. noun (obsolete, uncountable) Synonym of hand-in-cap (“old English trading game”).
  7. verb (transitive) To encumber with a handicap in any contest.
  8. verb (transitive, figurative, by extension) To place at disadvantage. “The candidate was handicapped by her lack of experience.”
  9. verb To estimate betting odds. “Grandpa Andy would buy the racing form the day ahead of time so he could handicap the race before he even arrived at the track.”

Synonyms

hand-in-cap disability disablement impairment hindrance hinderance deterrent impediment balk baulk check disable invalid incapacitate hinder hamper

Etymology

From hand-in-cap, in reference to holding the game stakes in a cap.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun An allowance of a certain amount of time or distance in starting, granted in a race to the competitor possessing inferior advantages; or an additional weight or other hindrance imposed upon the one possessing superior advantages, in order to equalize, as much as possible, the chances of success; as, the handicap was five seconds, or ten pounds, and the like.
  2. noun A race, for horses or men, or any contest of agility, strength, or skill, in which there is an allowance of time, distance, weight, or other advantage, to equalize the chances of the competitors.
  3. verb To encumber with a handicap in any contest; hence, in general, to place at disadvantage; as, the candidate was heavily handicapped.

Etymology [From hand in cap; -- perh. in reference to an old mode of setting a bargain by taking pieces of money from a cap.]

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