/kɹuz/
crews is pronounced /kɹuz/. Crews refers to multiple groups of people organized for a common activity, such as rowing crews or work crews. As a plural noun, it denotes more than one collective group and emphasizes the individuals as a unit. In everyday use, it can describe teams, squads, or labor groups collaborating on a task.
Say it backCrews refers to multiple groups of people organized for a common activity, such as rowing crews or work crews. As a plural noun, it denotes more than one collective group and emphasizes the individuals as a unit. In everyday use, it can describe teams, squads, or labor groups collaborating on a task.
"The rowing crews lined up at the start, waiting for the signal."
"Several maintenance crews were dispatched to fix the outage."
"Crews from different departments met to plan the launch."
Pronounce as /kruz/ in US and UK. The initial /k/ is a hard stop, the middle is a long /uː/ vowel extended, and the final /z/ is a voiced alveolar fricative. In IPA: US/UK: /kruz/. In fast speech, the /uː/ can be slightly shorter, and the final /z/ can voice tone up the vowel transition. Mouth: lips rounded for /uː/, tongue high and back, teeth gently closed.
Common mistakes include reducing /uː/ to a short /ʊ/ as in 'crush', and voicing issues where the final /z/ is misarticulated as /s/. Another error is misplacing lips or not rounding for /uː/. To correct: ensure a full, tense back-high tongue position for /uː/ and finish with a clear /z/ by voicing the fricative with a small amount of air at the tip of the tongue behind the top teeth.
In US and UK, /kruz/ with /uː/ is similar, but non-rhotic UK accents may soften /r/ in some environments; however, /kruz/ keeps a rhotic ending in careful speech. Australian English tends to lax the /uː/ slightly and can have a shorter, tenser /u/; the /z/ is consistently voiced. Overall, you’ll hear consistent /k/ + /r/ + /uː/ + /z/ with rhotic consistency differing by speed and register.
The challenge lies in producing a clean, long /uː/ vowel followed by a precise /z/ without a lingering /s/ or devoiced fricative. It’s easy to shorten /uː/ into /u/ or merge the /z/ with a following consonant. Focused training on sustaining lip rounding and tongue height for /uː/ and a crisp alveolar fricative for /z/ helps maintain clarity in fast speech.
The unique aspect is maintaining the contrast between a rounded, high back vowel /uː/ and the final voiced /z/ in rapid speech, particularly after alveolar consonants. Learners often confuse it with /kruz/ (as in ‘cruise’), which has a different consonant cluster and is vowel-lengthened differently in many dialects. Emphasize the value of a full mouth posture for /uː/ and a brief but strong voice onset for /z/.
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Crews comes from the plural of crew. The noun crew has roots in Old French creue, meaning ‘a body of people gathered together,’ and in Old Norse krópa, associated with groups or bands. The modern use in English centers on a group of people who work together, especially in rows (as in a rowing crew) or on a project (labor crews). The sense of organized teams appears as far back as the 17th century in maritime and labor contexts, where crews referred to the collective body aboard ships or assembled workers. Over time, the term broadened to any organized group acting in concert, not just a maritime crew. The plural form crews is used when referring to multiple such groups. The word has retained its core sense of collective action across centuries, with the exact composition of a crew varying by domain (rowing, construction, film, emergency response).
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "crews" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "crews"
-ues sounds
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