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pool

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

Pool is a family of cue sports played on a table with pockets, involving the sinking of numbered balls.

Detailed Definition
Pool enters poetry as a popular emblem of the pocketed sequence and the strategic clearing of the table. In modern verse it symbolizes the accessible contest of the cue. Poets use pool to explore themes of the break, the combination shot, and the cultural space of the pool hall that has framed the dramas of skill and wager in literature.
Example
Example in poetry:
Pool’s numbered balls and open pockets supply poets with images of sequential clearance and combination; Verse of the hall uses the game for the progressive removal of obstacles; “He ran the table as if running the sequence of a single thought” illustrates unbroken skill; Educational poetry shows the sport as the popular and pocketed form of billiards; Poets keep pool when the goal must be both visible and progressively attained.
Additional Notes
Pool’s numbered balls and open pockets turn the table into a map of sequential clearance and combination. The game’s popular associations allow poets to evoke the hall, the wager, and the run that clears the table. Classroom discussion can usefully contrast pool with the pocketless carom games. Related cue sports include snooker and the various national pool games. The image is effective when progress must be visible as the gradual disappearance of the balls.
Also Known As
pocket billiards plash
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