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

riffle

/ˈɹɪfəl/ noun, verb, proper noun

Forms riffles riffling riffled

  1. noun A swift, shallow part of a stream causing broken water.
  2. noun A succession of small waves.
  3. noun (mining) A trough or sluice having cleats, grooves, or steps across the bottom for holding quicksilver and catching particles of gold when auriferous earth is washed. Also one of the cleats, grooves or steps in such trough.
  4. noun A quick skim through the pages of a book.
  5. noun Synonym of riffle shuffle
  6. noun The sound made while shuffling cards.
  7. verb (intransitive) To flow over a swift, shallow part of a stream.
  8. verb (transitive) To ruffle with a rippling action.
  9. verb (intransitive) To skim or flick through the pages of a book.
  10. verb (transitive) To leaf through rapidly.
  11. verb (transitive) To shuffle playing cards by separating the deck in two and sliding the thumbs along the edges of the cards to mix the two parts.
  12. verb (transitive) To idly manipulate objects with the fingers.
  13. verb (transitive) To prepare samples of material using a riffler.
  14. noun In seal engraving, a small metal disc at the end of a tool.
  15. proper noun A surname.

Synonyms

riffle shuffle rifle ripple rippling wavelet flick ruffle flip thumb leaf riff cockle undulate

Etymology

Possible alteration of ruffle, from Middle English ruffelen, akin to Low German ruffelen (“to crumple”).

Compare rifle (“to score, to make grooves”) and the past participle riflet (“scored, grooved, rifled”), riffeln with the same meaning. Also see rifle (“a rifled gun”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A trough or sluice having cleats, grooves, or steps across the bottom for holding quicksilver and catching particles of gold when auriferous earth is washed; also, one of the cleats, grooves, or steps in such a trough. Also called ripple.

Etymology [CF. G. riffeln, riefeln, to groove. Cf. Rifle a gun.]

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