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

avail

/əˈveɪl/ verb, noun

Forms avails availing availed

  1. verb (transitive, often reflexive) To turn to the advantage of. [(chiefly) with of] “I availed myself of the opportunity.”
  2. verb (transitive) To be of service to. “Artifices will not avail the sinner in the day of judgment.”
  3. verb (transitive) To promote; to assist.
  4. verb (intransitive) To be of use or advantage; to answer or serve the purpose; to have strength, force, or efficacy sufficient to accomplish the object. “The plea in court must avail.”
  5. verb (India, Africa, elsewhere proscribed) To provide; to make available.
  6. verb (India, Africa, elsewhere proscribed) To use or take advantage of (an opportunity or resource). “You can avail discounts on food.”
  7. noun Effect in achieving a goal or aim; purpose, use (now usually in negative constructions). “I tried fixing it to no avail.”
  8. noun (now only US) Proceeds; profits from business transactions.
  9. noun (television, advertising) An advertising slot or package.
  10. noun (US, politics, journalism) A press avail. “While holding an avail yesterday, the candidate lashed out at critics.”
  11. noun (UK, acting) Non-binding notice of availability for work.
  12. noun (oil industry) A readily available stock of oil.
  13. noun (obsolete) Benefit; value, profit; advantage toward success.
  14. noun (obsolete, poetic) Effort; striving.

Synonyms

help service

Antonyms

disavail unavail

Etymology

From Middle English availen (“to be of use”), from Old French a (“to”) + vail from valoir (“to be worth”), from Latin valere (“to be worthy, strong”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To turn to the advantage of; to be of service to; to profit; to benefit; to help; as, artifices will not avail the sinner in the day of judgment.
  2. verb To promote; to assist. [Obs.] Pope. To avail one's self of, to make use of; take advantage of. Then shall they seek to avail themselves of names. Milton.
  3. verb To be of use or advantage; to answer the purpose; to have strength, force, or efficacy sufficient to accomplish the object; as, the plea in bar must avail, that is, be sufficient to defeat the suit; this scheme will not avail; medicines will not avail to check the disease. "What signs avail " Milton.
  4. noun Profit; advantage toward success; benefit; value; as, labor, without economy, is of little avail.

Etymology [OE. availen, fr. F. ad) + valoir to be worth, fr. L. valere to be strong, to be worth. See Valiant.]

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