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

nightcap

/ˈnaɪtˌkæp/ noun, verb, proper noun

Forms nightcaps nightcapping nightcapped night cap night-cap

  1. noun (clothing) A warm cloth cap worn while sleeping, often with pajamas, being common attire in northern Europe before effective home heating became widespread. “Winston wore a nightcap to stave off the cold.”
  2. noun A beverage drunk before bed that is usually alcoholic. “I'll make myself a nightcap of whisky and lemon before heading to bed.”
  3. noun (by extension, figuratively) Something that a person reads or listens to before bed.
  4. noun (US, sports, baseball) The final match of a sporting contest, especially the second game of a baseball doubleheader.
  5. noun (historical) A cap drawn over the face of the condemned person before they are hanged.
  6. verb (intransitive) To drink an alcoholic beverage shortly before retiring to bed.
  7. proper noun A locality in the Byron council area and the Lismore council area, north-eastern New South Wales, Australia.

Etymology

From night + cap.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A cap worn in bed to protect the head, or in undress.
  2. noun A potion of spirit drank at bedtime. [Cant] Wright.

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