Home › Glossary › Letter B

beanbag

Games
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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

Beanbag is a small bag filled with beans or pellets, used as a projectile in games of tossing and accuracy.

Detailed Definition
Beanbag appears in poetry as a soft emblem of the thrown weight and the yielding impact. In literary contexts it represents the safe projectile. Poets draw on the beanbag to illustrate themes of the arcing fill, the landing, and the cultural object that has turned the simple bag into a tool of play and a metaphor for the soft blow of chance.
Example
Example in poetry:
The beanbag’s soft arc and yielding landing appear in poems of safe and casual aim; Modern verse lets the beanbag stand for the low-stakes throw of friendship or childhood; “The beanbag hit the board and stayed, a small victory” demonstrates gentle success; Educational poetry shows the object as the harmless projectile of backyard games; Poets use its weightless impact when violence would be out of place.
Additional Notes
The beanbag’s soft weight and forgiving impact make it an emblem of low-stakes accuracy and childhood or backyard ease. Poets who choose the object often wish to lower the temperature of the contest while still retaining the pleasure of aim. In teaching contexts the beanbag can illustrate how the material of the projectile shapes the emotional register of the game. Related missiles include the quoit and the horseshoe. The term is especially useful when violence or high seriousness would be out of place.
Also Known As
Soft Cushion Plush Target Relaxed Throw Comfort Pad
Skip to main content