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

portcullis

UK /pɔːtˈkʌl.ɪs/ · US /pɔɹtˈkʌl.ɪs/ noun, verb

Forms portcullises portcullisses portculli portscullis portcullising portcullissing portcullised portcullissed percullice portclose portculleis portculles port cullis port-cullis portcluse portculis

  1. noun A gate in the form of a grating which is lowered into place at the gateway of a castle, a fort, etc.
  2. noun (historical) An old English coin from the reign of Elizabeth I, minted for the use of the East India Company, and bearing the picture of a portcullis on the reverse.
  3. verb (usually in the passive voice) To obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar.

Synonyms

cataract

Etymology

From Middle English portcolyse, from Old French porte colëice, from porte (“door”) + feminine of colëiz (“sliding”), ultimately from Latin colāre.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A grating of iron or of timbers pointed with iron, hung over the gateway of a fortress, to be let down to prevent the entrance of an enemy. "Let the portcullis fall." Sir W. Scott.
  2. noun An English coin of the reign of Elizabeth, struck for the use of the East India Company; --so called from its bearing the figure of a portcullis on the reverse.
  3. verb To obstruct with, or as with, a portcullis; to shut; to bar. [R.] Shak.

Etymology [OF. porte coulisse, coleïce, a sliding door, fr. L. colare, colatum, to filter, to strain: cf. F. couler to glide. See Port a gate, and cf. Cullis, Colander.]

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