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alcoves

Noun
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A small recessed space or niche in a room, often set back from the main wall. In older writing, it can suggest a private or ornamental corner.

Detailed Definition
An alcove is a recessed part of a room, usually separated from the main space by an arch, curtain, or partial wall. Browning’s speaker imagines searching every hidden corner of the house, and the word helps create the sense of a domestic maze and a pursuit that is both physical and emotional.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Such closets to search, such alcoves to importune!” makes alcoves suggest hidden spaces and private discoveries; “In the alcove, a lamp rehearsed its circle of gold” uses the recessed nook for intimacy; Keats’s settings often place lovers in “leafy” or secluded spaces, where enclosure heightens mood; A contemporary domestic poem might locate an ancestor’s photograph “in the alcove beside the stairs”
Additional Notes
In the line quoted, "alcoves" names a specific architectural feature that many readers may know only vaguely or not at all.; Found in the poem, Love in a Life by Robert Browning
Also Known As
niches recesses
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