One syllable: hauled.
hawld
/hɔld/
hauled is pronounced hawld (/hɔld/). It has one syllable (hauled), with the stress on "hauled". Hauled is the past tense of haul, meaning to pull or drag something with effort. It denotes a physical action completed in the past, often implying exertion or relocation. In everyday use, it can describe moving objects, vehicles, or loads, sometimes emphasizing the effort involved rather than the distance.
Hauled is the past tense of haul, meaning to pull or drag something with effort. It denotes a physical action completed in the past, often implying exertion or relocation. In everyday use, it can describe moving objects, vehicles, or loads, sometimes emphasizing the effort involved rather than the distance.
"Police hauled the suspect away after the confrontation."
"They hauled the heavy crate up the stairs, gritting their teeth with the strain."
"The fisherman hauled in the net and counted a good catch."
Pronounce it as /hɔːld/ in US/UK/AU. It’s a single stressed syllable: h + ɔːl + d. Your lips round slightly for the /ɔː/ vowel, the /l/ is lightly alveolar, and the final /d/ should be a clear voiced stop without extra aspiration. Think of the middle sound as a long /ɔː/ followed quickly by /l/ and a firm /d/. Audio reference: transcriptions align with standard American, British, and Australian pronunciations.
Common errors include turning the final /ld/ into /l/ or /d/ alone, producing a fused or clipped ending such as /hɔːl/ or /hɔːld/, or using a short /ɒ/ vowel as in ‘haul’ or misplacing voicing. Correct by maintaining the long /ɔː/ vowel, then crisp /l/ and /d/ in sequence without vowel loss. Ensure the /l/ is light and the /d/ is released promptly after the /l/ to avoid a muffled final sound.
In all three accents, /hɔːld/ is typical, but vowel length and rhoticity influence the realization. US speakers may have a slightly darker /ɔː/ with a more back tongue position, UK speakers often maintain a pure long /ɔː/ with less rhotic influence, and Australian speakers tend toward a broad /ɔː/ with a more centralized tongue height. The final /ld/ cluster remains, but the vocalic duration and quality can shift subtly.
The challenge lies in executing the /ɔː/ vowel accurately within a tight /h/ + /ɔː/ + /ld/ cluster while maintaining a clean, released /d/. Some speakers reduce the /ɔː/ to /ɑ/ or shorten it before the /ld/, creating /hɑːld/ or /hɔːl/. Keeping the long, tense mid-back vowel /ɔː/ and clearly articulating the final /l/ and /d/ requires precise tongue positioning and timing. It’s easy to slip into /hɔːl/ by dropping the /d/.
Imagine saying ‘haul’ but extend the vowel just a touch before the /l/; then release into the final /d/. The tip is to keep the mouth rounded for /ɔː/ during the //transition to /l/** and avoid vowel sharpness that could mimic a short /ɒ/. Keeping the tongue blade behind the teeth during /l/ helps prevent a heavy, rumbling /r/ or misplacement of the /d/.
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Hauled comes from haul, dating back to the Old English hala, analogous to the Germanic root *halan* meaning to pull or drag. The verb haul appeared in Middle English with senses of dragging, carrying, or transporting, often with the sense of exertion. Over time, the sense broadened in modern English to include pulling or moving heavy loads by force, and to transport by vehicle. The past tense hauled arises through standard English regularization (-ed) with pronunciation reflecting a single tense syllable and a strong final consonant cluster. First known uses appear in early Middle English texts dealing with objects and burdens being moved, with the semantic core of pulling masses or weights being central to its development. In American and British usage, hauled typically denotes a deliberate act of pulling or transporting, sometimes emphasizing effort, scale, or duration. The word is closely related to haul (n. and v.) and shares cognates across Germanic languages, which preserves the core notion of dragging or towing as a physical action.
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Words that rhyme with "hauled"
-led sounds
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