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Wrist

Anatomy
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

The joint connecting the hand to the forearm. It can suggest delicacy, restraint, vulnerability, or controlled movement in verse.

Detailed Definition
The wrist is a small but expressive hinge, often noticed in poetry through gestures: a turned wrist, a pulse beneath a cuff, or a hand slipping free. Its narrowness can evoke fragility, while its flexibility lends itself to images of dance, writing, weaving, and craft. Poets may focus on the wrist to make an emotion physical and intimate, showing hesitation in a tremor or confidence in a graceful, deliberate motion.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale," the speaker's bodily weakness makes small joints such as the wrist suggest human fragility; "A silver watch circled her wrist like a small moon" uses the wrist as a precise site for image and comparison; "At his wrist, the pulse argued with the silence" makes the wrist a place where life becomes audible; "She tied the letter to her wrist with red thread" lets the wrist carry a symbol of memory or commitment
Additional Notes
A small, exposed joint; images of bracelets, pulses, or binding can heighten themes of intimacy or restraint.
Also Known As
Carpus Wrist Joint
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