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

backhander

noun

Forms backhanders

  1. noun A glass of wine given out of turn, the bottle having been handed backwards.
  2. noun A blow with the back of the hand; a blow delivered with a swing of the arm across the chest.
  3. noun (informal) A bribe, a secret payment.
  4. noun (racquet sports) A shot played backhand, a backhand stroke.
  5. noun (racquet sports) A player who plays a backhand shot. “She's a terrific backhander.”
  6. noun (surfing) A surfer who approaches a swell with the wave behind them ("on their backhand") rather than facing the wave ("on their forehand").

Etymology

From backhand + -er (patient suffix) or -er (agent noun suffix).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A backhanded blow.

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