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

tailspin

noun, verb

Forms tailspins tailspinning tailspun tailspinned

  1. noun (aviation) The rapid, uncontrollable descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral. “The loss of the third engine threw the plane into a tailspin.”
  2. noun (figuratively) A severe mental or emotional collapse; emotional breakdown. “Just hours after leaving the institution, she suffered another tailspin.”
  3. noun (figuratively) Any sharp, sustained, often uncontrollable descent or decline. “The present stock tailspin proves bankruptcy is imminent.”
  4. verb Of an aircraft: to go into a rapid, uncontrollable descent in a steep spiral.
  5. verb (figurative) To go into a sharp, sustained, often uncontrollable descent or decline.

Synonyms

spin

Etymology

From tail + spin.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “tailspin”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details