vowel

vow·el | \ ˈvau̇(-ə)l

Definition of vowel

1 : one of a class of speech sounds in the articulation of which the oral part of the breath channel is not blocked and is not constricted enough to cause audible friction broadly : the one most prominent sound in a syllable

2 : a letter or other symbol representing a vowel —usually used in English of a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y

Examples of vowel in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The singing of Latin brought purer vowels into the King’s sound, which was pleasing. — The Economist, "In the bleak midwinter Obituary: Stephen Cleobury died on November 22nd," 18 Dec. 2019 Linguist Thomas Sawallis of the University of Alabama and colleagues stress that functional human speech is rooted in the ability to form contrasting vowel sounds. — Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian, "Human Ancestors May Have Evolved the Physical Ability to Speak More Than 25 Million Years Ago," 11 Dec. 2019 Strong, an Illinois native, was closest to nailing the long and nasally vowels of northern Midwest accents. — Jordyn Noennig, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "SNL does a sketch called 'Wisconsin Women,' but the jokes flop and the accents don't sound Wisconsin at all," 9 Dec. 2019 Her vowels are bright, round pearls strung together into sentences. — Brennan Kilbane, Allure, "Meet Jeanne Damas, the Influencer Who Turned French Beauty Into a Lucrative Business," 4 Dec. 2019 On the other hand, the Loser Community has risen admirably to the challenge; words don’t have to have lots of vowels. — Washington Post, "Style Conversational Week 1354: Let’s do the twist," 17 Oct. 2019 On both of his catches, Sanu was rewarded by the home crowd with chants of his last name, heavy emphasis on the final vowel. — BostonGlobe.com, "FOXBOROUGH — Mohamed Sanu had a crazy week. Traded to the Patriots Tuesday morning, he bid farewell to the fans in Atlanta, flew to Cincinnati (where he played the first four years of his career) to drop off his son, and made his way to New England by Wednesday.," 28 Oct. 2019 As my mom always told me, life has an expiration date, so always work hard for the first and last vowels of the alphabet. — Heran Mamo, Billboard, "'The Masked Singer' Season 2 Clues Let Us Peek Behind the Masks of New Contestants," 16 Sep. 2019 Some sang in close harmony, some sang long vowels, like a bed of strings. — National Geographic, "In Corsica, on a quest for beautiful harmony," 24 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'vowel.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.