phonetic alphabet

noun

1. an alphabet containing a separate character for each distinguishable speech sound.

phonetic alphabet

noun

1. a list of the words used in communications to represent the letters of the alphabet, as in E for Echo, T for Tango

Word History and Origins

Origin of phonetic alphabet¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

They say they have found four basic components they think make up this phonetic alphabet.

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The description of what the researchers termed a “sperm whale phonetic alphabet” opens the possibility of conveying a much larger variety of information.

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On Tuesday, the scientists reported that the whales use a much richer set of sounds than previously known, which they called a “sperm whale phonetic alphabet.”

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For much of the show’s run, various minor nurse characters were so interchangeable that they were repeatedly named “Able” and “Baker” — literally, “A” and “B” in an older version of the military phonetic alphabet.

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Just type “ICS” in the search function to read about the ways signals can be sent, and to see flag images, their meanings, associated letters and phonetic alphabet letters.

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