HOW TO PRONOUNCE
island
/ˈaɪlənd/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:05
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Leave the written s silent.
Stress EYE. The s is silent, and the ending has a light vowel.
TRY SAYING
“A small island.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗What does island mean?
noun
- A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, totally surrounded by water.
- A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, partially surrounded by water; a peninsula; a half-island.
- An entity surrounded by other entities that are very different from itself.
More meanings (17)
noun
- A superstructure on an aircraft carrier's deck.
- A traffic island.
- A roundabout; a traffic circle.
- A bench, counter, etc., that is not connected to a wall or other furniture and which can be used from any side.
- Ellipsis of kitchen island.
- An unincorporated area wholly surrounded by one or more incorporated areas.
- A phrase from which a wh-word cannot be extracted without yielding invalid grammar.
verb
- To surround with water; make into an island.
- To set, dot (as if) with islands.
- To isolate.
proper noun
- Long Island (in New York State).
- Long Beach Island.
- Vancouver Island.
- Synonym of Prince Edward Island.
- Epstein Island.
- HM Prison Parkhurst, a prison on the Isle of Wight.
- (obsolete) Obsolete form of Iceland.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈaɪlənd/
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.
This letter in a degree recalled me to life, and I determined to quit my island at the expiration of two days.
Then was this island— Save for the son that she did litter here, A freckl’d whelp, hag-born—not honour’d with A human shape.
More book examples (3)
I was thinking this over when there came ringing over the island the cry of a man at the point of death.
It was round and white, gleaming in the sheen of a hanging light, a bright island in a surf of tobacco smoke.
The early morning breeze rustled the reeds round the island and sang in the strange ribbed house as in a giant pan-pipe.