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gliding

Verb
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

Gliding is moving smoothly, lightly, and continuously with little apparent effort, as a bird, boat, skater, or drifting figure might move.

Detailed Definition
Gliding is a literary verb for moving without abruptness or effort. In this poem it describes Susan's eyes moving slowly across the page, giving the reading scene a gentle, continuous motion.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Her mild eyes gliding very slow / Across the letters” uses gliding for smooth, unhurried movement of the gaze; In Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott,” “a heavy barged sailed by” and the poem’s drifting motion often parallels gliding imagery; “Swans gliding over black water” gives the verb its literal, nearly silent sense; A contemporary poem may write, “the cursor gliding over names,” extending graceful motion into a digital setting
Additional Notes
The quoted line uses gliding in a poetic sense of smooth movement, which is less ordinary than the basic verb move.; Found in the poem, Old Susan by Walter de la Mare
Also Known As
sliding soaring floating drifting
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