rhyme
oxford
views updated Jun 27 2018rhyme / rīm/ •
n. correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, esp. when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry. ∎ a short poem in which the sound of the word or syllable at the end of each line corresponds with that at the end of another. ∎ poetry or verse marked by such correspondence of sound: the clues were written in rhyme. ∎ a word that has the same sound as another.•
v. [intr.] (of a word, syllable, or line) have or end with a sound that corresponds to another: balloon rhymes with moon| [as adj.] (rhyming) rhyming couplets. ∎ (of a poem or song) be composed of lines that end in words or syllables with sounds that correspond with those at the ends of other lines: the poem would have been better if it had rhymed. ∎ [tr.] (rhyme something with) put a word together with (another word that has a corresponding sound), as when writing poetry: I'm not sure about rhyming perestroika with balalaika. ∎ poetic/lit. compose verse or poetry: Musa rhymed and sang.PHRASES: rhyme or reason logical explanation or reason: without rhyme or reason his mood changed.DERIVATIVES: rhym·er n.rhym·ist / -ist/ n. ( archaic ).
The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
RHYME
oxford
views updated May 29 2018RHYME, also rime. A general and literary term for the effect produced by using words that end with the same or similar sounds: in the last stressed vowel (
fire/lyre/desire/aspire) and in following vowels and consonants (
inspiring/retiring;
admiringly/conspiringly). Rhyme has been a major feature of English VERSE since the early medieval period and is widely regarded as essential to it, although a great deal of verse is unrhymed. See
POETRY.
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language TOM McARTHUR
rhyme
oxford
views updated May 18 2018rhyme correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, especially when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry. The word was recorded in Middle English in the form
rime; the current spelling was introduced in the early 17th century under the influence of
rhythm, and both forms come ultimately via Latin
rhythmus from Greek
rhuthmos, related to
rhein ‘to flow’.
rhyme or reason good sense or logic; the phrase (which is found chiefly in negative contexts) is recorded from the mid 17th century.
The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES
rhyme
oxford
views updated May 18 2018rhyme XVII. var. sp. of
RIME2.
So vb. XVII; hence
rhymer (
-ER1) XVII,
rhymester (
-STER) XVIII.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
rhyme
oxford
views updated Jun 08 2018rhyme Identity of similarity of final sounds in two or more words, such as keep/deep and baking/shaking. Rhyme is used in poetry to reinforce
metre. End rhymes establish verse lines, while internal rhymes emphasize rhythmic structures.
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