From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishconsonantcon‧so‧nant1 /ˈkɒnsənənt $ ˈkɑːn-/ ●●○ noun [countable] 1 SLa speech sound made by partly or completely stopping the flow of air through your mouth → vowel2 SLAa letter that represents a consonant sound. The letters ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’, ‘u’, and sometimes ‘y’ represent vowels, and all the other letters are consonants.
Examples from the Corpus
consonant• If the language has long and short vowels and consonants, this will affect the rhythm of the language.• It is also good articulation and crisp, clear consonants.• Some phonologists maintain that a syllabic consonant is really a case of a vowel and a consonant that have become combined.• I couldn't get my tongue around the consonants.• The outline should include phonemic contrastive charts of the consonants and vowels.• The consonants are grouped together phonetically, depending on the kind of sound they make.• The second group causes most of the difficulties in spelling with consonants.consonantconsonant2 adjective 1 → be consonant with something2 APM technical relating to a combination of musical notes that sounds pleasant OPP dissonant —consonance noun [uncountable]Examples from the Corpus
consonant• However, these interests can not conflict too directly, but must appear to be consonant.• Dissonance is most powerful in a generally consonant context - hence the need to be extremely cautious in its use.• And resolution has a musical overtone that I like as well: the progression of a dissonant chord to a consonant one.• Others, then, will have to judge whether my views expressed here are consonant with that tradition.• On the face of it, this approach is consonant with the requirements of the Act.• Their sensory perception as well as their motor responses - their behaviour - are thus totally consonant with their bodily form and function.Origin consonant2 (1300-1400) Old French Latin, present participle of consonare “to sound together, agree”, from com- ( → COM-) + sonare “to sound” 