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

plumb

/plʌm/ noun, adjective, adverb, verb, proper noun

Also a form of plum

Forms plumbs plumbing plumbed

  1. noun A little mass of lead, or the like, attached to a line, and used by builders, etc., to indicate a vertical direction.
  2. noun (nautical) A weight on the end of a long line, used by sailors to determine the depth of water.
  3. noun The perpendicular direction or position.
  4. adjective Truly vertical, as indicated by a plumb line.
  5. adjective (cricket) Describing an LBW where the batsman is hit on the pads directly in front of their wicket and should be given out.
  6. adverb In a vertical direction; perpendicularly.
  7. adverb (informal) Squarely, directly; deeply, completely. “It hit him plumb in the middle of his face.”
  8. verb To determine the depth, generally of a liquid; to sound.
  9. verb To attach to a water supply and drain. “The kitchen sink is now plumbed in / up.”
  10. verb (transitive, figurative) To think about or explore in depth, to get to the bottom of. “to plumb the depths of”
  11. verb To use a plumb bob as a measuring or aligning tool.
  12. verb To accurately align vertically or horizontally.
  13. verb (dated) To seal something with lead.
  14. verb (intransitive) To work as a plumber.
  15. verb (rare) To fall or sink like a plummet.
  16. proper noun A surname.

Synonyms

plummet plumb bob plumb line perpendicular plumber clean plum

Etymology

From Middle English plumbe, plumme, from Old French *plombe, from Latin plumba, plural of plumbum.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A little mass or weight of lead, or the like, attached to a line, and used by builders, etc., to indicate a vertical direction; a plummet; a plumb bob. See Plumb line, below. Plumb bob. See Bob, 4.
  2. adjective Perpendicular; vertical; conforming the direction of a line attached to a plumb; as, the wall is plumb.
  3. adverb In a plumb direction; perpendicularly. "Plumb down he falls." Milton.
  4. verb To adjust by a plumb line; to cause to be perpendicular; as, to plumb a building or a wall.

Etymology [F. plomb, L. plumbum lead, a leaden ball or bullet; cf. Gr. Plummet, Plunge.]

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