Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

halyard

/ˈhæljə(ɹ)d/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.99 in modern English

Syllables: hal-yard
IPA: /ˈhæljə(ɹ)d/

14

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A rope used to raise or lower a sail, flag, spar or yard.

noun

A rope used to extend a ladder.

Example Sentences

"At last I got my knife and cut the halyards. The peak dropped instantly, a great belly of loose canvas floated broad upon the water […]"
"[…]broad-shouldered men with hard red-beaked faces and huge hands coarsened by generations of straining on heavy oars and halyards,—men who feared only God and the sea-spirits of their strange mythology and were a law unto themselves, adventurers and bigots."
"Uncleat the black main halyard to lower and remove the jib cover; remove the main halyard from the jib cover."

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English halier, from halen (“to haul”) + -iere (“-er”), with misconstrual of -ier as yard. Compare lanyard.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: halier

Inflected Forms

halyards (plural) halliard (alternative)

Phrases

main halyard throat halyard

Synonyms

halliard

Questions

How do you pronounce halyard?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhæljə(ɹ)d/.
What does halyard mean?: A rope used to raise or lower a sail, flag, spar or yard.
Where does halyard come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce halyard

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