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

helicopter

/ˈhɛl.iˌkɒp.tə(ɹ)/ noun, verb

Forms helicopters helicoptering helicoptered

  1. noun (aircraft) An aircraft that is borne along by one or more sets of long rotating blades which allow it to hover, move in any direction including reverse, or land; and typically having a smaller set of blades on its tail to stabilize the aircraft. “We flew over the city in a helicopter.”
  2. noun A powered troweling machine with spinning blades used to spread concrete.
  3. noun (botany) The winged fruit of certain trees, such as ash, elm, and maple.
  4. noun (zoology, slang) A dragonfly; so named due to its resemblance to a helicopter (sense 1).
  5. noun A whirling trick performed with devil sticks.
  6. noun (dance) A breakdance move in which the dancer spins on the floor while extending the legs to resemble the blades of a helicopter.
  7. verb (transitive) To transport by helicopter.
  8. verb (intransitive) To travel by helicopter.
  9. verb To rotate like a helicopter blade. “helicoptering his jacket, helicoptering his arms”
  10. verb To overprotect one's children, as a helicopter parent does.

Synonyms

chopper copter eggbeater ghetto bird heli helo huey rotary-wing aircraft whirlybird samara power trowel trowel machine hover

Etymology

Borrowed from French hélicoptère, from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “spiral”) + πτερόν (pterón, “wing”). Doublet of helicopteron. By surface analysis, helico- + -pter. The dragonfly sense is from a dragonfly's ability to hover and fly in any direction, like the flying machine.

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