spree

Noun
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 brief, intense period of unrestrained or reckless activity, often engaged in for fun or excitement; implies an indulgence in pleasure, spending, or adventures without thought for consequences.

Detailed Definition
A spree is a period of indulgent or excited activity, sometimes with a sense of excess or misbehavior. Here it helps compare the imagined dog’s nonstop howling to something wild and extreme.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Cruel, but all very well for a spree” uses spree for a wild, carefree outing or bout of pleasure; “They spent the night on a reckless spree” carries undertones of excess; “A shopping spree of bright plastic things” can satirize consumer pleasure in contemporary verse; In context, the word’s jaunty sound may sharply contrast with cruelty or damage
Additional Notes
In “all very well for a spree,” the word has a special sense of a wild outing or burst of activity that may not be familiar to all readers.; Found in the poem, A Sea Dirge by Lewis Carroll
Also Known As
Jubilation Revelry Frolic Merriment
Skip to main content