Pronunciation: [fˈɪsts] (IPA) 
The word "fists" is spelled with a silent "t" at the end to indicate that the "s" should be pronounced as a voiceless consonant rather than a voiced one. This is because the "s" comes after a voiceless consonant, the "t," which means that the sound is made without vibration of the vocal cords. In IPA phonetic transcription, "fists" is written as /fɪsts/, with the "s" symbol indicating that this sound is unvoiced.
Fists are noun referring to the closed hand when used as a weapon or symbol of resistance. The word typically denotes the hand shape where all the fingers are curled tightly into the palm while the thumb is wrapped over the fingers. Primarily serving as a form of self-defense or as a tool for delivering strong blows, fists are commonly associated with physical combat, violence, and aggression.
When clenched into fists, the hands enable individuals to punch, strike, or hit their opponents, making them a powerful tool in hand-to-hand combat. Fists are often raised in situations where an individual intends to display defiance, challenge, or assert physical dominance over others. Symbolically, the act of raising one's fists can represent solidarity in protests or resistance movements, expressing a collective readiness to confront injustice or oppression.
The action of making fists is found throughout various cultures and historical contexts. Martial artists train extensively to develop powerful and precise punches through the proper alignment and technique of their fists. In many combat sports, such as boxing or martial arts, fighters wear padded gloves to protect the fists and limit injuries to both themselves and their opponents.
Overall, fists hold significant cultural and practical significance, representing both physical force and resistance against perceived threats or injustices.
* The statistics data for these misspellings percentages are collected from over 15,411,110 spell check sessions on www.spellchecker.net from Jan 2010 - Jun 2012.
The word "fist" originated from the Old English term "fȳst", which can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic word "*fūstiz". It is further derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*pṓds", meaning "foot" or "bottom of the leg". The sense of "hand clenched into a ball" developed from the association between the shape of a closed fist and the foot, as the Proto-Indo-European root also signified "foot, footstep" and was metaphorically extended to imply "hand or fist". Over time, "fȳst" evolved into "fist" in Modern English.
