2 syllables: Crad, le. Stress on Crad.
KRAY-duhl
/ˈkɹeɪdəl/
Cradle is pronounced KRAY-duhl (/ˈkɹeɪdəl/). It has two syllables (Crad-le), with the stress on "Crad". Cradle is a noun referring to a rocking baby bed or a holder or rest for something delicate. It can also metaphorically describe a protective or nurturing environment. The term commonly appears in discussions of infant care, music boxes, or symbolic imagery of safety and beginnings. It emphasizes gentle, rocking motion and the idea of cradle-like protection.
nounCradle is a noun referring to a rocking baby bed or a holder or rest for something delicate. It can also metaphorically describe a protective or nurturing environment. The term commonly appears in discussions of infant care, music boxes, or symbolic imagery of safety and beginnings. It emphasizes gentle, rocking motion and the idea of cradle-like protection.
"The mother gently rocked the cradle to soothe the sleeping baby."
"Antique toys rested in the cradle beneath the nursery window."
"The pianist placed the baby grand in a cradle position for tuning."
Cradle is pronounced with two syllables, stress on the first: /ˈkreɪ.dl̩/ in US and UK. The first syllable sounds like 'cray' (rhymes with 'day'), and the second is a syllabic 'l' or a light schwa + l sound depending on accent (the 'dl' cluster forms a syllabic consonant in many speakers). Visualize starting with /k/, then /r/, then a long /eɪ/ vowel, and finish with a compact /dl/ release. You’ll often hear a little vowel in the second syllable in non-rhotic regions. Audio reference: [CRADLE pronunciation in dictionaries].
Common mistakes include merging the /eɪ/ with the final /l/ making /kreɪdl/ sound flat or rushed, and treating the second syllable as a full vowel rather than a syllabic /l/ (kreɪdəl). Some speakers insert an extra vowel between /eɪ/ and /l/ (kreɪ-uh-dl), which softens the word unnecessarily. Correct approach: keep the long /eɪ/ crisp, then release into a compact /l/ cluster. In careful speech, you’ll hear /ˈkreɪ.dl̩/ with the second syllable reduced to a syllabic /l/ or a tiny schwa + l depending on accent.
In US English, /ˈkreɪ.dl̩/ emphasizes a clear /eɪ/ diphthong, with a syllabic /l/ at the end. UK English often features a lightly pronounced final /l/ or /əl/ in careful speech, with a shorter vowel in the second syllable. Australian English tends to have a slightly more centralized vowel in the second syllable and a touch of vowel lengthening in the first syllable, but the overall pattern remains /ˈkreɪ.dəl/ or /ˈkreɪ.dl̩/. Rhoticity is generally non-rhotic in UK/AU, while US is rhotic in most dialects, though the final /l/ remains syllabic for many speakers.
The challenge lies in the /eɪ/ diphthong followed by a consonant cluster /dl/. Many speakers run the /eɪ/ into the /d/ or fail to produce a clear syllabic /l/ at the end. Keeping the /eɪ/ distinct and ending with a compact /l/ requires precise tongue and lip control: raise the front of the tongue to create the /eɪ/ contour, then quickly relax into the alveolar /d/ release before finishing with an unobtrusive /l/? making the final sound short and staccato. A good cue: think “cray-dl” with the second syllable nearly whispered.
Cradle consistently carries primary stress on the first syllable: /ˈkreɪ.dl̩/. The challenge is not the stress shift but the final syllable: some speakers acoustically voice or vocalize the /l/ as /əl/ in connected speech or reduce it to a tip of the tongue contact. Practically, practice saying CRAY-dl with a tight, quick touch of the tongue for the /l/ and aim for a compact finish rather than a prolonged L. This helps maintain naturalness in fluent speech.
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Cradle comes from the Old English word crædl, which referred to a basket or cradle for infants, and likely shares roots with crædlian, meaning to bend or turn. The term evolves in Middle English to denote a bassinet or rocking cradle, often made of wood and suspended or mounted for gentle rocking. The concept is ancient across many cultures, with similar devices appearing in Romance and Germanic languages. By the 14th- to 16th-centuries, cradle had acquired both literal meanings (the infant bed) and metaphorical uses (a place or situation in which something begins or is nurtured). The modern sense of a resting place for an infant solidified in early modern English, while the metaphorical usage—‘cradle of civilization,’ ‘cradle of ideas’—emerged in the 19th century as writers expanded beyond physical objects to spaces of origin and protection. First known uses appear in legal and household texts, where the cradle was described both in domestic settings and in descriptions of childcare practices. The word’s phonetic form remained stable through the Great Vowel Shift era, preserving the /k/ + /reɪ/ + /dl/ sequence that characterizes most varieties of English today.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Cradle" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "Cradle"
-dle sounds
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