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

snaffle

/ˈsnæfəl/ noun, verb

Forms snaffles snaffling snaffled

  1. noun A broad-mouthed, loose-ringed bit (metal in a horse's mouth). It brings pressure to bear on the tongue and the corners of the mouth, and is often used as a training bit.
  2. noun (figuratively) Decorative wear that looks like a snaffle.
  3. verb (transitive) To put a snaffle on, or control with a snaffle.
  4. verb (transitive, figurative, by extension) To quell or suppress.
  5. verb (transitive) To clutch by the bridle.
  6. verb (transitive, informal) To grab or seize; to snap up.
  7. verb (transitive, informal) To purloin, or obtain by devious means.
  8. verb (UK, Norfolk, intransitive, archaic) To talk foolishly.

Synonyms

bradoon snaffle bit snap up grab

Etymology

Apparently from Dutch snavel, from Middle Dutch snavel, snabel (“snout”), diminutive of Middle Dutch snabbe, snebbe (“bird's bill, neb”). Akin to Old Frisian snavel (“mouth”), Middle Low German snabbe (“neb, beak”), Old English nebb (“beak, bill, nose, face”). More at neb.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A kind of bridle bit, having a joint in the part to be placed in the mouth, and rings and cheek pieces at the ends, but having no curb; --called also snaffle bit.
  2. verb To put a snaffle in the mouth of; to subject to the snaffle; to bridle.

Etymology [D. snavel a beak, bill, snout; akin to G. schnabel, OHG. snabul,. sneb, snebbe, OFries. snavel mouth, Dan. & Sw. snabel beak, bill, Lith. snapas, and to E. snap, v. See Snap, and cf. Neb.]

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