-less
ləs
-less is the bowl you shake out and nothing falls
The picture You lift the bowl, turn it over and tap it, and nothing at all falls out. -less is shaken out and empty; -ful is filled right up to the rim.
Where the picture shows up in -less
-
the place for use is empty
This old charger is useless now.
ðɪs oʊld ˈtʃɑːrdʒər ɪz ˈjuːsləs naʊ
This old charger does nothing now.
You plug in the charger, no light comes on, and it gets pushed to the back of a drawer.
use + -less.
-
the place the cord sat is empty
The new speaker is wireless.
ðə nuː ˈspiːkər ɪz ˈwaɪərləs
The new speaker has no cord.
You turn the speaker around and the socket where a cord used to go is smooth and bare.
wire + -less.
-
the place for care is empty
That was careless of me; I'm sorry.
ðæt wəz ˈkerləs ʌv miː aɪm ˈsɑːri
That was my fault, I'm sorry.
The tension drains out of a hand and the cup slides straight through the fingers.
care + -less.
-
the place for an end is empty
The line at the clinic felt endless.
ðə laɪn æt ðə ˈklɪnɪk felt ˈendləs
The clinic queue seemed to go on forever.
The queue runs down the corridor, turns the corner, and no end is in sight.
end + -less.
-
the place for a home is empty
He was homeless for two winters.
hiː wəz ˈhoʊmləs fɔːr tuː ˈwɪntərz
He slept on the street for two winters.
At dusk everyone turns in through a door of their own, and one man has no door to turn into.
home + -less.
All of it in one picture
-less is one empty place. Empty the use out and it is useless; empty out the wire and it is wireless. Empty the care out of a hand and the hand is careless, empty the end off a line and the line is endless, empty the home out of an evening and a person is homeless. So with any -less word, just see which place has been left empty — sometimes that empty place is a relief, sometimes it hurts.