Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

stickleback

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.80 in modern English

Syllables
stick-le-back
IPA
25
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any one of numerous species of small fish of the family Gasterosteidae. The back is armed with two or more sharp spines. They inhabit both salt and brackish water, and construct nests from weeds.

Example Sentences

Etymology

From dialectal stickle (“a prickle, spine, sting”), from Old English sticel + bæc. See stick (transitive verb) and compare banstickle.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Inflected Forms

sticklebacks (plural)

Phrases

three-spined stickleback

Synonyms

minnow sticklebag sharpling prickleback

Questions

What does stickleback mean?
Any one of numerous species of small fish of the family Gasterosteidae. The back is armed with two or more sharp spines. They inhabit both salt and brackish water, and construct nests from weeds.
Where does stickleback come from?
It is traced to Old English.

How to pronounce stickleback

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