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

“backfires” is a form of

backfire

/ˈbækfaɪə(ɹ)/ noun, verb

Forms backfires backfiring backfired

  1. noun A premature explosion in the cylinder of a gas or oil engine during the exhaust or the compression stroke, tending to drive the piston in the wrong direction.
  2. noun An explosion in the exhaust passages of an internal combustion engine.
  3. noun An explosion in other equipment.
  4. verb (intransitive) Of a gun, cannon, Bunsen burner, etc., to fire in the opposite direction, for example due to an obstruction in the barrel.
  5. verb (intransitive) Of a reciprocating engine, to experience a premature ignition of fuel or an ignition of exhaust gases, making a popping sound.
  6. verb (idiomatic, transitive) To fail in a manner that brings down further misfortune. “His attempt to make money by importing luxury cars backfired horribly when fuel prices tripled.”
  7. verb (firefighting) To set a back fire (small, controlled fire to limit spread of a larger fire).

Synonyms

knock ping blowback boomerang backlash recoil

Etymology

From back + fire.

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