enjambment

noun

en·​jamb·​ment in-ˈjam-mənt 

variants or less commonly enjambement

in-ˈjam-mənt  äⁿ-zhäⁿb-ˈmäⁿ 

: the running over of a sentence from one verse or couplet into another so that closely related words fall in different lines compare run-on

Examples of enjambment in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The episode — co-directed by series creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay — is dense, tragic, farcical, and attentively constructed; the scene breaks are as important to the storytelling as the scenes themselves, like televisual enjambment. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 19 Jan. 2026

Rejecting the streamlining and modernizing approach of many recent translations, Mendelsohn artfully reproduces the epic’s formal qualities—meter, enjambment, alliteration, assonance—and in so doing restores to Homer’s masterwork its archaic grandeur. — Literary Hub, 10 Nov. 2025

Pay special attention to capitalization, enjambment, line breaks, and punctuation. — PC Magazine, 25 Oct. 2025

That album had so many more tracks, which fueled The Tortured Poets Department’s chart enjambment. — Katie Atkinson, Billboard, 21 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French enjambement, from Middle French, encroachment, from enjamber to straddle, encroach on, from en- + jambe leg — more at jamb

First Known Use

circa 1839, in the meaning defined above