vowel

noun

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

Musgraves continues, her native Texas twang drawing out the vowels, aaal riiight. — Eric Ray Davidson, Glamour, "Kacey Musgraves Isn’t Trying to Please Anybody but Herself," 28 Mar. 2019 If a sound segment consisted of just one vowel, the time after the beat was quite short. — Catherine Matacic, Science | AAAS, "If you listen closely, the drumbeats of Amazonian tribes sound like human speech," 24 Apr. 2018 There are some sweet scorers now eligible for play, including bizjet, and some magical vowel dumps, such as arancini, those Italian balls of cooked rice. — Leanne Italie, Fox News, "Scrabble dictionary adds 'OK,' 'ew' to official play along with hundreds of other new words," 24 Sep. 2018 There are some sweet scorers now eligible for play, including bizjet, and some magical vowel dumps, such as arancini, those Italian balls of cooked rice. — Leanne Itali, The Seattle Times, "Yowza! Scrabble dictionary update adds ‘OK,’ ‘ew’ to official play," 24 Sep. 2018 Lunar surface communications were voice-activated and subject to interference, so a vowel could easily have been dropped. — Jennifer Bogo, Popular Mechanics, "The Oral History of Apollo 11," 17 July 2018 The jury is out on whether dating apps like Happn and Grindr are bad for society or simply bad for the future of vowels. — Dwight Garner, New York Times, "A Young Man of Strict Nigerian-American Parents Comes of Age While Coming Out," 5 Mar. 2018 The Washington Capitals give us buy-a-vowel blandness. — Erik Brady, USA TODAY, "Which Stanley Cup Final city is more sinful, Las Vegas or Washington?," 6 June 2018 For example, Markle’s vowels might still sound American, but the lilt of the sentence might be less so. — Cari Romm, The Cut, "Linguists Explain Meghan Markle’s Apparent New British Accent," 10 July 2018

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.