belay
/bɪˈleɪ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.43 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "He would need an experienced partner to belay him on the difficult climbs."
- "I could only hope the remaining piton would belay his fall."
- "Belay that order!"
- ""We landed in their killbox?" "We did. I am sor... No, belay that. Heads down! Cavalry incoming!""
- "jacket […] belayd with silver lace"
- "But instead of swapping over at the ice axe belay, you carry on in the lead, cutting or kicking steps until you are about twenty feet above."
Etymology
From Middle English beleggen, bileggen, from Old English beleċġan (“to cover, invest, surround, afflict, attribute to, charge with, accuse”), From Proto-West Germanic *bilaggjan, equivalent to be- (“about, around”) + lay. Cognate with Dutch beleggen (“to cover, overlay, belay”), German belegen (“to cover, occupy, belay”), Swedish belägga (“to pave”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bɪˈleɪ/
- British English: /ˈbiːleɪ/