One syllable: guns.
guhnz
/ɡʌnz/
guns is pronounced guhnz (/ɡʌnz/). It has one syllable (guns), with the stress on "guns". Guns refers to firearms designed to discharge projectiles by expanding gas from rapidly burning propellant. In everyday use, it also can denote weapons in general or as a verb form in phrases like 'guns for hire' in slang. The noun form is typically plural, referring to more than one firearm; the term carries strong connotations of violence and security depending on context.
Guns refers to firearms designed to discharge projectiles by expanding gas from rapidly burning propellant. In everyday use, it also can denote weapons in general or as a verb form in phrases like 'guns for hire' in slang. The noun form is typically plural, referring to more than one firearm; the term carries strong connotations of violence and security depending on context.
"He collected antique guns for display."
"The police recovered several confiscated guns from the warehouse."
"In the film, the protagonist relies on different guns to survive the chase."
Pronounce it as /ɡunz/ in US/UK/AU. The onset is a hard /ɡ/ as in 'go', followed by a short /ən/ reduced vowel, and a final /z/ voiced sibilant. In connected speech you may hear it as /ɡz/ or /ɡənz/ depending on surrounding sounds; keep the /n/ light and avoid turning it into /ŋ/. IPA: US/UK/AU /ɡunz/; mouth position: start with the back of the tongue rising to contact the soft palate for /ɡ/, relax into a neutral schwa or a very light /ə/ for /ən/, then finish with the vibrating /z/. Audio reference: listen for /ɡunz/ in tense phrases like 'guns in the drawer'.
Common mistakes: (1) De-voicing the final /z/ to /s/ in rapid speech, (2) Pronouncing the cluster as /ɡuːnz/ with a long /u/ or diphthong, (3) Dropping the /n/ or linking too strongly. Correction: keep a short, neutral /ən/ before the final /z/, avoid lengthening the vowel, and ensure the /n/ is released before the /z/. Practice with minimal pairs like /ɡunz/ vs /ɡuz/ and pay attention to air flow through the teeth for the /z/ sound.
US and UK both use /ɡunz/ with a rhotic or non-rhotic accent not changing the word itself, but vowel color nearby may differ in surrounding words. US tends to a sharper /ɡ/ release and a crisp /z/. UK often features a slightly more forward tongue for /ɪ/ vs /ə/ in unstressed syllables around the word when connected. Australian tends to reduce vowels slightly and may shorten the vowel before /z/ in rapid speech; the /ɡ/ remains a hard stop. Overall, the core is /ɡunz/ with small vowel color differences.
The difficulty lies in the final voiced /z/ after a nasal /n/ cluster, requiring precise voicing and sibilant production without turning into /s/. Also, the quick transition from /ɡ/ to /ən/ demands a quick, light tongue movement and accurate tongue tip positioning for /n/ while sustaining voicing into /z/. In rapid speech, coarticulation with following sounds can blur the boundaries. Mastery comes from controlled release of /ɡ/ and clear voicing on /z/ while maintaining a relaxed jaw.
A practical nuance is the very brief, almost invisible vowel in the /ən/ portion; you want a relaxed, reduced vowel rather than a full /æ/ or /ʌ/. The /n/ should be light and quickly absorbed by the following /z/ in fluent speech. If you emphasize the vowel too much, listeners may perceive it as /ɡuːnz/ or /ɡənz/ unnatural. Focus on a clean, short schwa-like /ə/ for the /ən/ and maintain a strong /z/ voicing.
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The word gun traces to the Middle Dutch or Old Norse roots referring to a weapon or instrument used to hurl objects. The earliest English uses appear in the 14th century, where gun could describe a contraption to fling stones or a firearm. The shift to modern firearms occurred by the 17th century as gunpowder-based weapons became standardized in military use. The term gradually expanded in common language to refer to any firearm or, in slang, to attribute power or ability (as in ‘to gun it’ meaning to accelerate). Over centuries, gun has maintained a core association with projectile weapons, evolving in usage from combat tooling to a broader symbol for strength, enforcement, and risk. First known uses appear in technical treatises and military logs, with more colloquial attestations emerging in the 18th and 19th centuries as firearms became widespread in civilian life and popular culture.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "guns" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "guns" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "guns"
-uns sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
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