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loophole

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 opening or gap, especially in a wall or fence; in poetry, loopholes are often literal or metaphorical, suggesting evasion, escape, or a narrow view, adding a sense of constraint or a means of seeing beyond.

Detailed Definition
In older or more literary usage, a loophole can mean a narrow opening through which one can look or shoot. Here it refers to the tiny opening the speaker hopes to see through before it is blocked up.
Example
Example in poetry:
Wordsworth writes, “He left no loophole great or small / Through which my straining eyes might look”; A loophole is literally a narrow opening, then figuratively an escape in a rule or argument; “The moon found a loophole in the boarded shed” restores the physical sense; A legal or political poem may condemn “the loophole wealthy hands discover”
Additional Notes
In the line quoted, "loophole" is used in its older sense of a small opening, which many modern readers may not immediately know.; Found in the poem, Shut Out by Christina Rossetti
Also Known As
escape exception bypass gap
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