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

nuzzle

UK /ˈnʌzl̩/ · US /ˈnʌz(ə)l/ verb, noun

Forms nuzzles nuzzling nuzzled nuzzlest nuzzledst nuzzleth nosel nousel nousle nowsle nusle

  1. verb To push or thrust (the nose or snout, face or muzzle, or head, or an object) against or into something.
  2. verb To rub or touch (someone or something) with the nose, face, etc., or an object. “The horse nuzzled its foal’s head gently to wake him up.”
  3. verb Chiefly of an animal: to dig (something, especially food) out of the ground using the nose or snout; to root.
  4. verb Often followed by in or into: to press or push the nose or snout, mouth, face, etc., against or into someone or something; to touch someone or something with the nose or snout, etc. “The bird nuzzled up to the wires of the cage.”
  5. verb Chiefly of an animal: to push the nose or snout into the ground to dig for something, especially food; to root, to rootle.
  6. verb Followed by down: to settle or lie comfortably and snugly in a bed, nest, etc.; to nestle.
  7. verb Chiefly followed by up or with: to press affectionately against someone or something; to nestle, to snuggle.
  8. verb (figurative) To come into close contact with someone or something.
  9. noun An act of nuzzling (all verb senses).
  10. verb Often followed by up or with': to nurture or train (oneself or someone) to act a certain way, have certain beliefs, etc.
  11. verb (falconry, hunting) To train (a dog or hawk) to attack prey.
  12. verb (generally) Chiefly followed by up: to bring up (someone); to foster, to rear; also, to educate (someone); to train.
  13. verb (literary) To care for (someone) affectionately; to hold dear (someone); to cherish, to nurse; also, to provide (someone or something) a comfortable and snug place to settle or lie (compare etymology 1, verb etymology 1, verb sense 2.3).

Synonyms

snuzzle cuddle snuggle nestle nest draw close nose

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle English noselen (“to bend down”); further etymology uncertain, possibly:
* a back-formation from noseling, noselyng (“on the back, supine; with the face downward, prone”, adverb), from nose (“nose”) (from Old English nosu, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s (“nose”)) + -ling, -lyng (suffix forming adverbs denoting direction, manner, or position); or
* from nose (see above) + -el, -elen (diminutive or frequentative suffix) (in which case the English word is, by surface analysis, nose + -le (frequentative suffix)).
Etymology 1, verb sense 2.3 (“to settle or lie comfortably and snugly”) is possibly influenced by nestle or nursle (frequentative of nurse).
The noun is derived from the verb.

Origin uncertain; appears to have a separate origin from nuzzle (etymology 1) due to the different meanings, but probably influenced by that word.

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To noursle or nurse; to foster; to bring up. [Obs.]
  2. verb To nestle; to house, as in a nest.
  3. verb To work with the nose, like a swine in the mud. And nuzzling in his flank, the loving swine Sheathed, unaware, the tusk in his soft groin. Shak.
  4. verb To go with head poised like a swine, with nose down.

Etymology [See Noursle.]

Etymology [Dim. fr. nose. See Nozzle.]

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