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

sniff

/snɪf/ verb, noun, interjection

Forms sniffs sniffing sniffed

  1. verb (ambitransitive) To make a short, audible inhalation, through the nose, as when smelling something; to smell (something). “The dog sniffed around the park, searching for a nice scent.”
  2. verb (transitive) To say (something) while sniffing, such as in case of illness or unhappiness, or in contempt. “"He's never coming back, is he?" she sniffed while looking at a picture of him.”
  3. verb (slang, chiefly UK) To inhale drugs (usually cocaine) through the nose, usually in powder form.
  4. verb (figurative) To be dismissive or contemptuous of something; used with at. “This opportunity is not to be sniffed at.”
  5. verb (by extension, transitive) To perceive vaguely.
  6. verb (intransitive) To pry; to investigate in an interfering manner.
  7. verb (computing) To intercept and analyse packets of data being transmitted over a network. “packet sniffer”
  8. noun (countable) An instance of sniffing. “She gave the flowers a quick sniff to check they were real.”
  9. noun (countable) A quantity of something that is inhaled through the nose.
  10. noun (countable, colloquial) A brief perception, or tiny amount.
  11. noun (uncountable, slang) Cocaine.
  12. noun (countable, slang) A toddler or young child.
  13. interjection A short inhalation sound, sometimes associated with crying.

Synonyms

snort snuff whiff sniffle

Etymology

From Middle English sniffen, of imitative origin.

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To draw air audibly up the nose; to snuff; --sometimes done as a gesture of suspicion, offense, or contempt.
  2. verb To draw in with the breath through the nose; as, to sniff the air of the country.
  3. verb To perceive as by sniffing; to snuff, to scent; to smell; as, to sniff danger.
  4. noun The act of sniffing; perception by sniffing; that which is taken by sniffing; as, a sniff of air.

Etymology [OE. sneven; akin to snivel, snuff; cf. Dan. snive to sniff. See Snuff, v. t.]

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