HOW TO PRONOUNCE
castle
/ˈkæsəl/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:05
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The t is silent.
Stress the first syllable. Keep the s but leave the t silent, then finish with a light vowel and l.
TRY SAYING
“A castle on the hill.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗What does castle mean?
noun
- A large residential building or compound that is fortified and contains many defences; in previous ages often inhabited by a nobleman or king. Also, a house or mansion with some of the architectural features of medieval castles.
- An instance of castling.
- (informal) A rook; a chess piece shaped like a castle tower.
More meanings (19)
noun
- A defense structure in shogi formed by defensive pieces surrounding the king.
- The wicket.
- (obsolete) A close helmet.
- (dated) Any strong, imposing, and stately palace or mansion.
- (dated) A small tower, as on a ship, or an elephant's back.
verb
- To house or keep in a castle.
- (figuratively) To protect or separate in a similar way.
- To move the king 2 squares right or left and, in the same turn, the nearest rook to the far side of the king. The move now has special rules: the king cannot be in, go through, or end in check; the squares between the king and rook must be vacant; and neither piece may have been moved before castling.
- To create a similar defensive position in Japanese chess through several moves.
- To bowl a batsman with a full-length ball or yorker such that the stumps are knocked over.
- (obsolete) To make into a castle: to build in the form of a castle or add (real or imitation) battlements to an existing building.
proper noun
- A surname transferred from the common noun referring to someone who lived in or worked in a castle
- Castle class, a class of steam locomotives used on the GWR
- The first part of the name of certain nuclear tests by the US: Castle Bravo, Castle Romeo, Castle Yankee etc. See Operation Castle.
- University College, Durham, a constituent college located in Durham Castle
- A hamlet in Bowerchalke parish, south-west Wiltshire, England (OS grid ref SU0122).
- A community (without a council) in Cardiff, Wales; it includes Cardiff Castle.
- A community (without a council) in Swansea, Wales; it includes Swansea Castle.
- A town in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, United States, derived from the surname.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈkæsəl/
Pronunciation used in the listening tip.
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
Our chamber was high up, in a projecting wing of a sort of castle, built out on a steep spur of rock.
The attendants remained as mute to this address as to the former, and they now stood before the gate of the castle.
More book examples (3)
There were fantastically dressed people under the trees and in the distance there was a glimpse of the turrets of a castle.
The glitter of the ivy, the soft, atmospheric grey of the castle walls, the gentleness of everything near the ruin, was perfect.
He brought with him to the castle a handsome, intelligent wife and a little girl of eight or nine years of age.