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

perk

UK /pɜːk/ · US /pɝk/ noun, verb, adjective

Forms perks perking perked perq

  1. noun (informal) Perquisite. “Free coffee is one of the perks of the job.”
  2. noun (video games) A bonus ability that a player character can acquire; a permanent power-up.
  3. verb (transitive, informal) To make (coffee) in a percolator or a drip coffeemaker. “I’ll perk some coffee.”
  4. verb (intransitive, informal) Of coffee: to be produced by heated water seeping (“percolating”) through coffee grounds. “The coffee is perking.”
  5. noun A percolator, particularly of coffee.
  6. verb (transitive) To make trim or smart; to straighten up; to erect; to make a jaunty or saucy display of.
  7. verb (intransitive) To appear from below or behind something, emerge, pop up, poke out.
  8. verb (intransitive, obsolete) To exalt oneself; to bear oneself loftily.
  9. adjective (obsolete) Smart; trim; spruce; jaunty; vain.
  10. verb (dated) To peer; to look narrowly, sharply, or inquisitively.
  11. verb (dialectal) To examine thoroughly.
  12. verb (obsolete) To perch.

Synonyms

fringe benefit perquisite perk up percolate pick up gain vigor

Etymology

Clipping of perquisite.

Clipping of percolate (verb) and percolator (noun).

Origin uncertain. Perhaps a metathesis of prick.

The origin is uncertain. Perhaps a variant of peer + -k (frequentative ending).

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To make trim or smart; to straighten up; to erect; to make a jaunty or saucy display of; as, to perk the ears; to perk up one's head. Cowper. Sherburne.
  2. verb To exalt one's self; to bear one's self loftily. "To perk over them." Barrow. To perk it, to carry one's self proudly or saucily.
  3. adjective Smart; trim; spruce; jaunty; vain. "Perk as a peacock." Spenser.
  4. verb To peer; to look inquisitively. Dickens.

Etymology [Cf. W. percu to trim, to make smart.]

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