Home › Glossary › Letter S

Spine

Anatomy
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

The column of bones supporting the body, often symbolizing strength, alignment, courage, or vulnerability.

Detailed Definition
The spine gives the body shape and upright movement, making it a natural poetic symbol of resilience and moral steadiness. To have spine can mean to resist pressure, while a bent or broken spine may portray injury, oppression, grief, or exhaustion. Poets may compare it to a ladder, river, row of stones, or trunk of a tree. Because it runs through the body's center, the spine can organize images of balance, inheritance, pain, and the difficult act of standing firm.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The mountain’s spine cut the horizon” uses spine to give a landscape a strong skeletal shape; A poet might write “fear climbed my spine like cold rain” to show a sudden physical response; “She straightened her spine before speaking” makes posture reveal courage; “The book’s cracked spine held years of hands” turns a familiar object into an image of use and endurance
Additional Notes
The spine provides upright support, making it a strong metaphor for resolve, moral steadiness, or endurance. A bent, broken, or chilled spine can instead convey fear, weakness, or shock.
Also Known As
Backbone Vertebral Column Ridge
Skip to main content