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

hesitate

UK /ˈhɛz.ɪ.teɪt/ · US /ˈhɛz.ə.teɪt/ verb

Forms hesitates hesitating hesitated hæsitate

  1. verb (intransitive) To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination. “He hesitated whether to accept the offer or not; men often hesitate in forming a judgment.”
  2. verb (intransitive) To stammer; to falter in speaking.
  3. verb (transitive, poetic, rare) To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner.

Synonyms

demur balbucinate balbutiate falter hem haw stammer stutter stumble mammer scruple waver boggle wobble deliberate halt waffle dither hover stand shilly-shally pause

Antonyms

damn the torpedoes decide brazen grasp the nettle go big or go home resolve shoot first and ask questions later shoot from the hip shoot from the lip shoot one's mouth off

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin haesitātus, perfect passive participle of haesitō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), intensive of haereō (“to hesitate, stick fast; to hang or hold fast”). Displaced native Old English wandian. Compare French hésiter.

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To stop or pause respecting decision or action; to be in suspense or uncertainty as to a determination; as, he hesitated whether to accept the offer or not; men often hesitate in forming a judgment.
  2. verb To stammer; to falter in speaking.
  3. verb To utter with hesitation or to intimate by a reluctant manner.

Etymology [L. haesitatus, p. p. of haesitare, intens. fr. haerere to hesitate, stick fast; to hang or hold fast. Cf. Aghast, Gaze, Adhere.]

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

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “hesitate” (best matches first).