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hov'ring

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

Archaic contraction of "hovering," describing something suspended in the air, fluttering uncertainly, or remaining attentively nearby.

Detailed Definition
This is a contracted poetic spelling of hovering, showing the speaker suspended in flight. The apostrophe marks the dropped syllable and gives the line a compressed, musical rhythm.
Example
Example in poetry:
“High in the sunlit silence, hov’ring there” contracts hovering to fit meter; “A kestrel, hov’ring over the road, held its wings against the wind” captures suspended motion; “Hov’ring between departure and return, she listened” extends the verb metaphorically; “The apostrophe in hov’ring signals an omitted syllable, often useful in older verse
Additional Notes
The apostrophe spelling in “Hov'ring” is a poetic contraction that may puzzle readers unfamiliar with older verse conventions.; Found in the poem, High Flight by John Gillespie Magee Jr.
Also Known As
hovering suspended floating
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