Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

shunt

/ʃʌnt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.82 in modern English

Syllables
shunt
IPA
/ʃʌnt/
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To cause to move (suddenly), as by pushing or shoving; to give a (sudden) start to.

Transitive verb

verb

To divert to a less important place, position, or state.

Transitive verb

verb

To provide with a shunt.

Transitive verb

verb

To move data in memory to a physical disk.

Transitive verb

verb

To divert electric current by providing an alternative path.

Transitive verb

verb

To move a train from one track to another, or to move carriages, etc. from one train to another.

Transitive verb

verb

To have a minor collision, especially in a motor car.

British usage; Informal; Transitive verb

verb

To divert the flow of a body fluid.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

Etymology

From Middle English schonten, schunten (“to jerk, swerve; to dodge, escape”), either: * possibly a back-formation from Middle English schonen (“to avoid, refuse, hate, fear”), from Old English sċunian, sċyniġan; see shun. Or * an alteration of Middle English *schunden, *schynden, from Old English sċyndan, sċendan (“to hasten, hurry”) (as in āsċyndan (“to remove, take away”), from Proto-West Germanic *skundijan, from Proto-Germanic *skundijaną (“to impel, hasten”). * from unrecorded Old English *sċunettan, a derivative of sċunian (“to shun, avoid”). As regards the noun sense, compare Middle English shunt (“swerve; sudden jerk”), derived from the verb.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: schonten, schonen, sċunian, sċyndan, *skundijan, *skundijaną

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ʃʌnt/
  • British English: /ʃʌnt/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Synonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce shunt?
The recorded pronunciation is /ʃʌnt/.
What does shunt mean?
To cause to move (suddenly), as by pushing or shoving; to give a (sudden) start to.
Where does shunt come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce shunt

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “shunt”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ʃʌnt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “shunt”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “shunt” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.