Home › Glossary › Letter L

lub

Sound
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

A soft sound, especially the first beat in a heartbeat sound pattern.

Detailed Definition
Lub is part of the familiar onomatopoeic pair "lub-dub" used to imitate the sound of a heartbeat. It is not common in ordinary prose, so it stands out as a sound word in the poem.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Now human hearts, with their lub and dub” imitates the two-part heartbeat through sound words; “Lub-dub, lub-dub, beneath the rain” makes rhythm mimic bodily pulse; “The doctor heard a steady lub, then dub” places the sound in a clinical context; In performance poetry, repeated “lub-dub” can establish urgency, intimacy, or a drumlike beat
Additional Notes
The word in "lub and dub" is a specialized sound imitation rather than a common everyday word.; Found in the poem, Tides of Time by Richard
Also Known As
lubber clumsy oaf lummox
Skip to main content