rhyme

¹rhyme

noun \ˈrīm\

Definition of RHYME

1

a (1) : rhyming verse (2) : poetry

b : a composition in verse that rhymes

2

a : correspondence in terminal sounds of units of composition or utterance (as two or more words or lines of verse)

b : one of two or more words thus corresponding in sound

c : correspondence of other than terminal word sounds: as (1) : alliteration (2) : internal rhyme

3

: rhythm, measure

— rhyme·less adjective

Variants of RHYME

rhyme also rime \ˈrīm\

Examples of RHYME

1. She used “moon” as a rhyme for “June.”
2. He couldn't think of a rhyme for “orange.”
3. They're learning about meter and rhyme.

Origin of RHYME

Middle English rime, from Anglo-French

First Known Use: 13th century

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

Rhymes with RHYME

chime, climb, clime, crime, cyme, dime, disme, grime, lime, mime, prime, rime, slime, stime, thyme, time

²rhyme

verb

rhymed also rimedrhym·ing also rim·ing

Definition of RHYME

transitive verb

1

: to relate or praise in rhyming verse

2

a : to put into rhyme

b : to compose (verse) in rhyme

c : to cause to rhyme : use as rhyme

intransitive verb

1

: to make rhymes; also : to compose rhyming verse

2

of a word or verse : to end in syllables that are rhymes

3

: to be in accord : harmonize

— rhym·er noun

Variants of RHYME

rhyme also rime

Examples of RHYME

1. Please find the two lines that rhyme.
2. She rhymed “moon” with “June.”

First Known Use of RHYME

14th century

Related to RHYME

Synonyms

accord, agree, answer, chord, cohere, coincide, comport, conform, consist, correspond, dovetail, fit, go, harmonize, jibe, check (also rime), sort, square, tally

Antonyms

differ (from), disagree (with)

Related Words

equal, match, parallel; align (also aline), line up, register

Near Antonyms

contradict, dispute, gainsay; negate, nullify; clash, conflict, jar

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

rhyme

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Type of echoing produced by the close placement of two or more words with similarly sounding final syllables. Rhyme is used in poetry (and occasionally in prose) to produce sounds that appeal to the ear and to unify and establish a poem's stanzaic form. End rhyme (i.e., rhyme used at the end of a line to echo the end of another line) is most common, but internal rhyme (occurring before the end of a line) is frequently used as an embellishment. Types of “true rhyme” include masculine rhyme, in which the two words end with the same vowel-consonant combination (stand/land); feminine rhyme (or double rhyme), in which two syllables rhyme (profession/discretion); and trisyllabic rhyme, in which three syllables rhyme (patinate/latinate).