holiday
nounA day when people do not work because it celebrates something special.
nounA time away from school or work when people rest or travel for fun.
nounA period when a student does not go to school.
verbTo spend time away from work or school doing something fun.
Syllables
3 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: Letter H
The letter H makes the /h/ sound, like in 'hat', 'hop', and 'hen'. It is a soft breath of air.
H is a voiceless glottal fricative — just a puff of air with no friction. It always appears before a vowel and is sometimes silent (as in 'hour' or 'honest').
Tip
H is a puff of air — breathe out and say /h/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Short O
The letter O makes a short sound, like in 'hot' and 'dog'.
When the letter O appears in a closed syllable, it usually makes the short O sound /ɑ/. In American English, this sounds like 'ah'.
Tip
O says /ɑ/ like 'Ahh!' said the doctor.
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter L
The letter L makes the /l/ sound, like in 'lamp', 'leg', and 'lip'. The tongue tip touches behind the upper teeth.
L is a voiced lateral approximant — the tongue tip touches the ridge behind the upper teeth while air flows around the sides. Double L (ll) makes the same /l/ sound.
Tip
L is for lamp — light it up with /l/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Schwa
In unstressed syllables, vowels often make a lazy 'uh' sound called schwa, like the A in 'about'.
Schwa /ə/ is the most common vowel sound in English. Any vowel letter can make the schwa sound when it's in an unstressed syllable. It sounds like a quick, lazy 'uh'.
Tip
Schwa is lazy — any vowel can say 'uh' when it's not stressed!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter D
The letter D makes the /d/ sound, like in 'dog', 'day', and 'dig'. The tongue tip touches behind the upper teeth.
D is a voiced alveolar stop. The tongue tip touches the ridge just behind the upper front teeth, then releases with voice. It reliably makes the /d/ sound in almost all positions.
Tip
D is for dog — and dog starts with /d/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: AY Vowel Team
AY at the end of a word says long A, like in 'play' and 'day'.
The vowel team 'ay' makes the long A sound /eɪ/ and typically appears at the end of a word or syllable. It's the end-of-word partner to 'ai'.
Tip
AY at the end of the day says long A!
Examples
What is SnapPhonics?
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