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subsides

Verb
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

Sinks down or settles lower. In older or literary use, it can suggest a gradual falling away or diminishing.

Detailed Definition
Here, the leaf is described as moving from one state to another: “leaf subsides to leaf.” Frost uses the verb to give the change a quiet, inevitable motion, as if the first freshness is slipping away. The word is not everyday in this sense, so readers may pause over it.
Example
Example in poetry:
Frost’s “Then leaf subsides to leaf” makes subsides suggest a gradual settling or fading; “The flood subsides, leaving reeds bowed low” uses the verb literally; “Her anger subsided into rain” transfers physical recession to emotion; “After applause subsides, the bare stage listens” gives the verb a theatrical, contemporary setting.
Additional Notes
In the line “Then leaf subsides to leaf,” the verb is used in a literary sense of sinking or fading, which is less common in modern everyday speech.; Found in the poem, Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost
Also Known As
diminishes recedes abates
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