Dictionary
junc•ture
Pronunciation: ( jungk'chur), [key]—
n.
1. a point of time, esp. one made critical or important by a concurrence of circumstances:
At this juncture, we must decide whether to stay or to walk out.
2. a serious state of affairs; crisis:
The matter has reached a juncture and a decision must be made.
3. the line or point at which two bodies are joined; joint or articulation; seam.
4. the act of joining.
5. the state of being joined.
6. something by which two things are joined.
7. Phonet.
a. a pause or other phonological feature or modification of a feature, as the lengthening of a preceding phoneme or the strengthening of a following one, marking a transition or break between sounds, esp. marking the phonological boundary of a word, clause, or sentence: it is present in such words as
night-rate and
re-seed and absent in such words as
nitrate and
recede. Cf.
close juncture, open juncture, terminal juncture.
b. the point in a word or group of words at which such a pause or other junctural marker occurs.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
