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Armadas

Historical Allusion
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

Large fleets of warships, especially the Spanish Armada in history.

Detailed Definition
The plural form here points to great enemy fleets, with a clear echo of the Spanish Armada. Because it is a specific historical naval term, readers may need help identifying the reference.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Drake he's in his hammock till the great Armadas come,” imagines England awaiting invasion; Armadas are large fleets, especially recalling Spain's Armada of 1588; The Armadas on the horizon turn the sea into history's threat; A modern poem may call storm clouds an armada of iron ships
Additional Notes
The word "Armadas" in the quoted line refers to historical fleets and may not be familiar in this specialized sense.; Found in the poem, Drake's Drum by Henry Newbolt
Also Known As
fleets navies squadrons
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