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Patience

Games
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 solo card game in which a player arranges a shuffled pack according to prescribed patterns.

Detailed Definition
Patience is a family of solitary card games, often involving the building of ordered sequences or suits from a randomly dealt pack. Success depends on foresight, restraint, and the willingness to accept that some deals cannot be solved. In poetry, patience can name both the game and the virtue it dramatizes: waiting while chance reveals structure. It suits poems of solitude, ritual, thwarted desire, and the quiet labor of making order without an audience.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poem can compare solitary thought to a game of patience played late at night; The slow turning of cards in patience can represent waiting for reconciliation or news; A poet might describe hope as a card that finally finds its proper place; “I deal the silence into neat columns” uses patience to make solitude visible
Additional Notes
Patience is the traditional British name for solitaire, a class of solo card games. A player follows fixed rules to build sequences, often by suit or rank, from a shuffled deck. In poetry, the word may also emphasize endurance, waiting, or calm persistence.
Also Known As
Solitaire
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