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

backhand

/ˈbækhænd/ noun, verb, adjective

Forms backhands backhanding backhanded

  1. noun (tennis and other, racquet sports) A stroke made across the chest from the off-hand side to the racquet hand side; a stroke during which the back of the hand faces the shot. “She has a mean backhand.”
  2. noun Handwriting that leans to the left. “It was written in a shaky backhand.”
  3. noun (Ultimate Frisbee) The standard throw; a throw during which the disc begins on the off-hand side and travels across the chest to be released from the opposite side.
  4. noun The back of the hand: the reverse side (dorsal side) of the human hand or other primate hand.
  5. noun (surfing) The hand towards the back of the board.
  6. verb To execute a backhand stroke or throw.
  7. verb To slap with the back of one's hand. “During the boxing match, I accidentally backhanded my opponent.”
  8. adjective (of handwriting) Slanting to the left.
  9. adjective (of strokes or throws) In the backhand style.
  10. adjective (ice hockey, of a play) Using the back side of the hockey stick. “He scored on a backhand shot.”

Synonyms

backhand stroke backhand shot backhanded left-slanting

Antonyms

forehand palm

Etymology

From back + hand.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A kind of handwriting in which the downward slope of the letters is from left to right.
  2. adjective Sloping from left to right; --said of handwriting.
  3. adjective Backhanded; indirect; oblique. [R.]

Etymology [Back, adv. + hand.]

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