Will a toddler bawl or ball if he doesn’t get his way? Is a person with no hair bawled or bald? Does a dog bay or bey? Would you shop at a bazaar or bizarre?
falcon, www.theprovince.com
bate, bait
Bate means to diminish or abate. It also has to do with falconry, and means to beat the wings in an attempt to escape from the perch.
Not yet tame, the hawk would bate when his captor wasn’t in sight.
When you bait something or someone, you tease or allure.
The farmer will bait the escaped goat with a basket of apples.
baited, bated
Baited means teased or allured.
The rodents were baited into the trap.
Bated means with great suspense.
She waited with bated breath to hear her test results.
runner’s baton, flickr
baton, batten, batting
A baton is a short stick or staff that is used in many different ways. A conductor uses a baton to direct an orchestra. In a relay race, a baton is passed from runner to runner. A baton is carried and twirled by a drum major. A policeman’s club is called a baton. Those are only some of the examples.
The orchestra presented their conductor with a new baton.
As a noun, batten is strips of wood or metal used to fasten something in place. As a verb, batten means to strengthen or fasten something with battens. It also means to feed greedily or to live in luxury, especially at the expense of others.
As a thunderstorm approaches, it is wisdom to batten down anything that could be blown away.
Batting is sheets of cotton wadding for use in quilts.
The young girl was taught by her grandmother how to stuff the batting inside the pieces of the quilt.
bald man, pixabay
bawl, ball
Bawl means to weep or cry loudly.
The extremely spoiled toddler will bawl and stomp his feet when he doesn’t get his way.
Ball has several meanings. One of them is a round object that is kicked, thrown, or hit during a game.
The soccer ball was kicked out of the playing field.
bawled, bald
Bawled means cried.
The toddler bawled and stomped his feet when he didn’t get his way.
Bald means lacking hair or covering. When bald is used to refer to a tire, it means the tread is worn away.
The bald gentleman always wore a hat during the summer to keep his head from getting sunburned.
howling wolf, flickr
bay, bey
Bay has many different meanings. One of the meanings is to bark or howl loudly.
Pip will bay every time a police car or ambulance with its siren wailing passes the house.
Bey is a historical term which means the governor of a district or province in the Ottoman Empire.
The bey was assassinated by his enemies.
bays, baize
Bays are loud barks or howls.
Pip bays every time a police car or ambulance with its siren wailing passes the house.
Baize is a feltlike fabric, usually green, that is used for covering billiard and card tables.
The piece of baize had been cut perfectly to fit the pool table.
bazaar, wikipedia
bazaar, bizarre
A bazaar is a type of marketplace typically found in a Middle-Eastern country.
On her trip to Pakistan, she bought several souvenirs at a bazaar.
Bizarre means so strange or unusual so as to cause interest or amusement.
Her bizarre dresses and outrageous hairdos amused everyone who saw her.
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Homophones are my arch enemy, in my writing. I know the difference in definition but catching them myself when I’m writing is very difficult. My eye just seems to skim right over them. More a typo than not knowing what the difference is. Desert and dessert. Insure and ensure. I could go on forever. Thank God for good editors.
Teresa R.