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

squab

UK /ˈskwɒb/ · US /ˈskwɑb/ noun, verb, adjective, adverb

Forms squabs squabbing squabbed

  1. noun A young dove or pigeon.
  2. noun A young chicken.
  3. noun A young rook.
  4. noun (uncountable) The meat of a young dove or pigeon, typically under four weeks old, used as food.
  5. noun (countable) A thick cushion, especially a flat one covering the seat of a chair or sofa.
  6. noun (countable) A person of a short, fat figure.
  7. verb (obsolete) To fall plump; to strike at one dash, or with a heavy stroke.
  8. verb (transitive) To furnish with squabs, or cushions.
  9. verb (transitive) To stuff thickly and sew through, the stitches being concealed by buttons, etc.
  10. adjective Fat; thick; plump; bulky.
  11. adjective Unfledged; unfeathered.
  12. adjective Clumsy.
  13. adjective Curt; abrupt.
  14. adjective Shy; coy.
  15. adverb (slang) With a heavy fall; plump.

Synonyms

piper squeaker chick dove squabby

Etymology

Unknown. Possibly related to dialectal Swedish skvabb (“fatty, flabby”). First attested in the 17th century.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Fat; thick; plump; bulky.
  2. adjective Unfledged; unfeathered; as, a squab pigeon. King.
  3. noun A neatling of a pigeon or other similar bird, esp. when very fat and not fully fledged.
  4. noun A person of a short, fat figure.

Etymology [Cf. dial. Sw. sqvabb a soft and fat body, sqvabba a fat woman, Icel. kvap jelly, jellylike things, and and E. quab.]

Etymology [Cf. dial. Sw. squapp, a word imitative of a splash, and E. squab fat, unfledged.]

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