The Mysterious "u"

PRONUNCIATION  
ʌ =   ʊ =   ə: =   ju:  
 
hut /hʌt/    
putt /pʌt/   put /pʊt/   purse /pə:s/  
nut /nʌt/     nurse /nə:s/  
luck /lʌk/   look /lʊk/    
ultimate /'ʌltɪmeɪt/       utilize /'ju:tɪlʌɪz/  
      debut /'deɪbjuː/, -buː/  
unusual /ʌn'ju:ʒʊəl/      
 

DEFINITIONS
hut /hʌt/
► noun
a small, simple, single-storey house or shelter.
► verb
(huts, hutting, hutted) [with obj.] provide with huts: [as adj.] (hutted) a hutted
encampment.
-derivatives
hut-like adjective.
-origin
mid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘temporary wooden shelter for troops’): from French hutte,
from Middle High German hütte.

ultimate /'ʌltɪmeɪt/
► adjective
1. being or happening at the end of a process; final: their ultimate aim was to force his
resignation.
■ basic or fundamental: the ultimate constituents of anything that exists are atoms.
■ Physics denoting the maximum possible strength or resistance beyond which an
object breaks.
2. being the best or most extreme example of its kind: the ultimate accolade.
► noun
1. (the ultimate) the best achievable or imaginable of its kind: the ultimate in decorative
luxury.
2. a final or fundamental fact or principle.
-derivatives
ultimacy noun (pl. ultimacies).
-origin
mid 17th cent.: from late Latin ultimatus, past participle of ultimare ‘come to an end’.

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put /pʊt/
► verb (puts, putting; past and past participle put) [with obj. and adverbial]
1. move to or place in a particular position: Harry put down his cup | I put my hand out
towards her | watch where you're putting your feet!
■ cause (someone or something) to go to a particular place and remain there for a time:
India has put three experimental satellites into space.
■ [no obj., with adverbial of direction] (of a ship) proceed in a particular direction: she
stepped into the boat and put out to sea | they put in at Cuba to refit.
■ [no obj., with adverbial of direction] US archaic (of a river) flow in a particular direction.
2. bring into a particular state or condition: they tried to put me at ease | a large aid
programme was put into practice | he is putting himself at risk.
■ (put oneself in) imagine oneself in (a particular situation): it was no use trying to put
herself in his place.
■ write or print (something) in a particular place: they put my name on the cover page.
■ express (a thought or comment) in a particular way: to put it bluntly, he was not really
divorced.
3. (put something on/on to) cause (someone or something) to be subject to something:
commentators put some of the blame on Congress | he defended his decision to put
VAT on domestic fuel.
■ assign a particular value, figure, or limit to: it is very difficult to put a figure on the size
of the budget.
■ (put something at) estimate something to be (a particular amount): estimates put the
war's cost at £1 million a day.
4. throw (a shot or weight) as an athletic sport: she set a women's record by putting the
shot 56' 7".
► noun
1. a throw of a shot or weight.
2. Stock Exchange short for put option.
-phrases
not know where to put oneself
informal feel deeply embarrassed.
put something behind one
get over a bad experience by distancing oneself from it:they have tried to put their grief
behind them and rebuild their lives.
put the clocks back or forward
adjust clocks or watches backwards (or forwards) to take account of official changes in
time.
put someone's eyes out
blind someone in a violent way.
put one's hands together
applaud; clap: I want you all to put your hands together for Barry.
put one's hands up
raise one's hands in surrender.
put it or oneself about
Brit. informal be sexually promiscuous.
put one over on
informal deceive (someone) into accepting something false.

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put up or shut up
informal justify oneself or remain silent: they called for the minister to either put up or
shut up.
-origin
Old English (recorded only in the verbal noun putung), of unknown origin; compare with
dialect pote ‘to push, thrust’ (an early sense of the verb put).

putt /pʌt/
► verb
(putts, putting, putted) [no obj.] try to hit a golf ball into the hole by striking it gently so
that it rolls across the green.
► noun
a stroke of this kind made in an attempt to hole the ball.
-origin
mid 17th cent. (originally Scots): differentiated from put.

purse /pə:s/
► noun
1. chiefly Brit. a small pouch of leather or plastic used for carrying money, typically by a
woman.
■ the money possessed by or available to a person or country: institutions are funded
from the same general purse.
■ a sum of money given as a prize in a sporting contest, especially a boxing match.
2. N. Amer. a handbag.
► verb
(with reference to the lips) pucker or contract, typically to express disapproval or
irritation: [with obj.] Marianne took a glance at her reflection and pursed her lips
disgustedly | [no obj.] under stress his lips would purse slightly.
-derivatives
hold the purse strings
have control of expenditure.
tighten or loosen the purse strings
restrict (or increase) the amount of money available to be spent.
-origin
late Old English, alteration of late Latin bursa ‘purse’, from Greek bursa ‘hide, leather’.
The current verb sense (from the notion of drawing purse strings) dates from the early
17th cent.

utilize (also utilise) /'ju:tɪlʌɪz/

► verb
[with obj.] make practical and effective use of: vitamin C helps your body utilize the iron
present in your diet.
-derivatives
utilizable adjective
utilization noun
utilizer noun.
-origin

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early 19th cent.: from French utiliser, from Italian utilizzare, from utile.

nut /nʌt/
► noun
1. a fruit consisting of a hard or tough shell around an edible kernel.
■ the hard kernel of such a fruit.
■ (usu. nuts) a small lump of something hard or solid, especially coal.
2. a small flat piece of metal or other material, typically square or hexagonal, with a
threaded hole through it for screwing on to a bolt as a fastener.
■ the part at the lower end of the bow of a violin or similar instrument, with a screw for
adjusting the tension of the hair.
3. informal a crazy or eccentric person.
■ [with adj. or noun modifier] a person who is excessively interested in or enthusiastic
about a specified thing: a football nut.
4. informal a person's head.
5. (nuts) vulgar slang a man's testicles.
6. the fixed ridge on the neck of a stringed instrument over which the strings pass.
► verb (nuts, nutting, nutted)
1. [with obj.] Brit. informal butt (someone) with one's head.
2. [no obj.] [usu. as noun] (nutting) archaic gather nuts.
-phrases
do one's nut
Brit. informal become extremely angry or agitated.
nuts and bolts
informal the basic practical details: the nuts and bolts of making a movie.
off one's nut
informal out of one's mind; crazy.
a tough or hard nut
informal someone who is difficult to deal with; a formidable person.
a tough or hard nut to crack
informal a difficult problem or an opponent that is hard to beat.
use or take a sledgehammer to crack a nut
informal use disproportionately drastic measures to deal with a simple problem.
-derivative
nut-like adjective.
-origin
Old English hnutu, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch noot and German Nuss.

nurse /nə:s/
► noun
1. a person trained to care for the sick or infirm, especially in a hospital.
■ dated a person employed or trained to take charge of young children: her mother's old
nurse.
■ archaic a wet nurse.
2. Entomology a worker bee, ant, or other social insect, caring for a young brood.
■ [often as modifier] Forestry a tree or crop planted as a shelter to others.
► verb [with obj.]

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1. give medical and other attention to (a sick person): he was gradually nursed back to
health.
■ [no obj.] work as a nurse: she nursed at the hospital for thirty years.
■ try to cure or alleviate (an injury, injured part, or illness) by treating it carefully and
protectively: he has been nursing a cold | figurative he nursed his hurt pride.
■ harbour (a belief or feeling), especially for a long time: he still nursed a secret desire to
try and make amends.
■ take special care of, especially to promote development or well-being: our political
unity needs to be protected and nursed.
2. feed (a baby) at the breast: [as adj.] (nursing) nursing mothers.
■ [no obj.] be fed at the breast: the baby snuffled as he nursed.
■ (be nursed in) dated be brought up in (a specified condition): he was nursed in the lap
of plenty.
3. hold closely and carefully or caressingly: he nursed his small case on his lap.
■ hold (a drink), sipping it occasionally: I nursed a double brandy.
4. Billiards & Snooker try to play strokes which keep (the balls) close together.
-origin
late Middle English: contraction of earlier nourice, from Old French, from late Latin
nutricia, feminine of Latin nutricius ‘(person) that nourishes’, from nutrix, nutric- ‘nurse’,
from nutrire ‘nourish’. The verb was originally a contraction of nourish, altered under the
influence of the noun.

debut /'deɪbjuː/, -buː/

► noun
a person's first appearance or performance in a particular capacity or role: the film
marked his debut as a director.
■ [as modifier] denoting the first recording or publication of a group, singer, or writer: a
debut album.
■ dated the first appearance of a debutante in society.
► verb
[no obj., with adverbial] perform in public for the first time: the Rolling Stones debuted at
the Marquee.
■ (of a new product) be launched: the model is expected to debut at $19,000.
■ [with obj.] (of a company) launch (a new product): the company is to debut new
software.
-origin
mid 18th cent.: from French début, from débuter ‘lead off’.

unusual /ʌn'ju:ʒʊəl/
► adjective
not habitually or commonly occurring or done: the government has taken the unusual
step of calling home its ambassador | it was unusual for Dennis to be late.
■ remarkable or interesting because different from or better than others: a man of
unusual talent.
-derivatives
unusually adverb [sentence adverb] unusually for a city hotel, it is set around a lovely
garden | [as submodifier] he made an unusually large number of mistakes

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unusualness noun.

Rhyming words with

hut /hʌt/
•abut, but, butt, cut, glut, gut, hut, intercut, jut, Mut, mutt, nut, phut, putt, rut, scut,
shortcut, shut, slut, smut, strut, tut, undercut
•sackbut • scuttlebutt • catgut
•midgut • Vonnegut • rotgut • haircut
•offcut • cross-cut • linocut • crew cut
•woodcut • uppercut • chestnut
•hazelnut • peanut • wing nut • cobnut
•locknut • walnut • groundnut
•doughnut (US donut) • coconut
•butternut

purse /pə:s/
•amerce, asperse, averse, burse, coerce, converse, curse, diverse, Erse, hearse,
immerse, intersperse, nurse, perse, perverse, purse, reimburse, submerse, terce, terse,
transverse, verse, worse
•commerce • wet nurse • sesterce
•adverse • universe • obverse

put /pʊt/
•afoot, clubfoot, foot, hotfoot, kaput, put, soot, splay-foot, underfoot, wrong-foot, Yakut
•Blackfoot • flatfoot • barefoot
•pussyfoot • forefoot • crowfoot
•coltsfoot • goosefoot • tenderfoot
•per caput • Rajput • output
•throughput • Inuktitut

luck/lʌk/
•buck, Canuck, chuck, cluck, cruck, duck, fuck, luck, muck, pluck, puck, ruck, schmuck,
shuck, struck, stuck, suck, truck, tuck, upchuck, yuck
•blackbuck • reedbuck • sawbuck
•roebuck • bushbuck • megabuck
•woodchuck • shelduck • Habakkuk
•stagestruck • awestruck • moonstruck
•dumbstruck • thunderstruck

look/lʊk/
•betook, book, brook, Brooke, Chinook, chook, Coke, cook, Cooke, crook, forsook,
Gluck, hook, look, mistook, nook, partook, rook, schnook, schtuck, Shilluk, shook,
Tobruk, took, undercook, undertook
•handbook
•chapbook, scrapbook

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•cash book • passbook • sketchbook
•chequebook • textbook
•daybook, playbook
•casebook • phrase book • dybbuk
•pocketbook • copybook • storybook
•guidebook • logbook • songbook
•scorebook • hornbook • sourcebook
•notebook • cookbook • yearbook
•picture book • wordbook • workbook
•caoutchouc • Windhoek • billhook
•fishhook • skyhook • buttonhook
•tenterhook • wet look • outlook
•Inuk • inglenook • Sihanouk
•Pembroke • Innsbruck • donnybrook
•Uruk • Osnabrück • Beaverbrook
•nainsook

début /'deɪbjuː/
•Askew
•undervalue, value
•Matthew • countervalue • argue
•début • nephew • Pegu • ecu • rescue
•Verdelho
•menu, venue
•ague • Jehu • emu • preview • Jesu
•mildew • miscue
•continue, sinew
•in situ • barbecue • curlicue
•honeydew • clerihew • retinue
•avenue • residue • impromptu • shoyu
•Autocue • Kikuyu • Bartholomew
•interview • Montague • overview
•curfew • purlieu • purview

fund /fʌnd/
•bund, fund, Lund, rotund
•moribund • cummerbund
•Rosamund • orotund

shoot / ∫uːt/
•acute, argute, astute, beaut, Beirut, boot, bruit, brut, brute, Bute, butte, Canute, cheroot,
chute, commute, compute, confute, coot, cute, depute, dilute, dispute, flute, fruit, galoot,
hoot, impute, jute, loot, lute, minute, moot, mute, newt, outshoot, permute, pollute,
pursuit, recruit, refute, repute, root, route, salute, Salyut, scoot, shoot, Shute, sloot,
snoot, subacute, suit, telecommute, Tonton Macoute, toot, transmute, undershoot,
uproot, Ute, volute
•Paiute • jackboot • freeboot • top boot

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•snow boot • gumboot • marabout
•statute • bandicoot • Hakluyt
•archlute • absolute • dissolute
•irresolute, resolute
•jackfruit • passion fruit • breadfruit
•grapefruit • snakeroot • beetroot
•arrowroot • autoroute  

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