rohld
/ɹoʊld/
rolled is pronounced rohld (/ɹoʊld/). Rolled is the past tense and past-participle form of roll, meaning to have turned or unfolded something along a surface or axis. In pronunciation, it is a single-syllable verb with a final /d/ onset in many contexts, and can appear as a closed syllable with a light, quick release. The word often features a rapid, vowel-lengthened /oʊ/ or /oul/ in rapid speech, but the core is the /roʊld/ sequence with an /l/ and a final /d/.
Rolled is the past tense and past-participle form of roll, meaning to have turned or unfolded something along a surface or axis. In pronunciation, it is a single-syllable verb with a final /d/ onset in many contexts, and can appear as a closed syllable with a light, quick release. The word often features a rapid, vowel-lengthened /oʊ/ or /oul/ in rapid speech, but the core is the /roʊld/ sequence with an /l/ and a final /d/.
"She rolled the dough into a perfect circle."
"The ball rolled across the court and out of bounds."
"He rolled his shoulders to loosen up before the run."
Pronounce it as /roʊld/ in US and UK/US-style dictionaries; in Australian English you’ll often hear /rəʊld/ with a slightly schwa-like initial onset. Start with an /r/ sound, glide into a long /oʊ/ vowel, then transition to a clear /l/ and end with /d/. Emphasize the single syllable and avoid turning it into /ˈroʊlɪd/ or /roʊɫd/. Practice by isolating the sequence: /r/ + /oʊ/ + /l/ + /d/, then blend quickly. IPA: US /roʊld/, UK /rəʊld/, AU /rəʊld/.
Common mistakes include inserting an extra vowel, producing a two-syllable form like /ˈroʊ-əld/ or /ˈroʊ-ləd/, or slurring the /ld/ into /l/ only. Another frequent error is mispronouncing the final /d/ as a soft /t/ or dropping the /l/ entirely. To correct: ensure the sequence is /r/ + /oʊ/ + /l/ + /d/ in immediate succession, with the /l/ clearly released into the /d/. Keep the tongue touching the alveolar ridge for /d/ after finishing the /l/ and avoid a vowel between the /l/ and /d/.
In US, you typically hear /roʊld/ with a rhotic /r/ and a full /oʊ/ glide. UK often features /rəʊld/ with a shorter, less rhotic-sounding /r/ in non-rhotic varieties but kept in linking positions, and the vowel tends toward /əʊ/ in some regions. Australian English tends to /rəʊld/ with a less pronounced rhotic, and the vowel can be more centralized; some speakers maintain a slightly more open /ɔʊ/ in casual speech. The key differences: rhoticity, vowel quality (oʊ vs əʊ), and the handling of /r/ in successive words.
The difficulty mainly comes from the /ld/ cluster at the end, which requires precise timing and tongue retraction from the alveolar ridge to a quick /d/ release without inserting a vowel. The /r/ at the start and the /oʊ/ diphthong demand smooth coarticulation to avoid an extra syllable or vowel. In rapid speech, the /l/ and /d/ can blur into a velar-alveolar consonant blend. Also, regional vowel shifts may alter the exact quality of /oʊ/ or /əʊ/ making it less predictable.
Rolled is a single-stressed syllable in its verb form; the primary focus is on the nucleus vowel /oʊ/. Unlike many polysyllabic words, there’s no secondary stress. The challenge is not the stress but the rapid execution of the consonant cluster /l/ + /d/ after the diphthong. In connected speech, reduce any unnecessary vowel or vowel-lengthening between /oʊ/ and /l/ while keeping the /l/ light but audible and the /d/ clearly released.
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The verb roll comes from Old English rolan, rotla, or rallan with Germanic roots, connected to Dutch rollen and German rollen, all meaning to turn or revolve. The term evolved from a physical action describing items turning over a surface to a broader sense of moving along a path, as in rolling a wheel or rolling dough. The past tense formed with -ed follows standard English irregular/regular patterns, but in English phonology the final -ld cluster influences preceding vowel length and the voicing of the surrounding consonants. The sense of continuous movement underlies both the literal act of rolling objects and the figurative usage of rolling out plans or a film reel. The earliest attestations of the modern spelling “rolled” appear in Middle English, with the verb having long-standing usage in agricultural, mechanical, and nautical contexts before expanding into everyday idiom in Early Modern English. The development of the /roʊld/ sequence, with the dark L and final /d/, reflects typical American English assimilation and voicing tendencies in closed syllables, as well as regional vowel shifts in the 17th–19th centuries that solidified the familiar pronunciation today.
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Words that rhyme with "rolled"
-old sounds
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