limerick

noun

lim·​er·​ick ˈli-mə-rik  ˈlim-rik 

: a light or humorous verse form of five chiefly anapestic verses of which lines 1, 2, and 5 are of three feet and lines 3 and 4 are of two feet with a rhyme scheme of aabba

Did you know?

A limerick is a short, humorous (and frequently bawdy) five-line poem with a rhyme scheme of aabba. While the origins of this type of verse are unknown, some believe that the poem owes its name to a group of poets from Limerick, a port city in west-central Ireland, who wrote such verses. Others point to a parlor game in which players sang the chorus of an old soldiers' song with the phrase "will you come up to Limerick?" and then added impromptu verses. Regardless, a limerick’s characteristic rhythm comes from its uses of anapests, metrical feet consisting of two short syllables followed by one long syllable or two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable (as in "unaware"). To wit: "There once was a song from old Éire / Sung by the soldiers living there, / 'Will You Come Up to Limerick?' / Quite possibly did the trick / In naming the limericks we share."

Examples of limerick in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Until then, feel free to send me your best limericks at [e-mail]. —Mackensy Lunsford, The Tennessean, 15 Feb. 2024

There’s a person writing beautiful custom poems that are sort of dirty limericks. —Emily Leibert, Curbed, 2 Nov. 2024

Instead, what we’re served feels more like dirty limericks delivered at an excruciating pace by a bore with bad breath. —Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2024

In countless interviews, Joel has mused that the waltzing chord progression is monotonous and the lyrics akin to limericks. —Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 9 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Limerick, Ireland

First Known Use

1895, in the meaning defined above

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

limerick

noun

lim·​er·​ick ˈlim-(ə-)rik 

: a humorous poem five lines long in which the first, second, and fifth lines have one rhyme and the third and fourth another

Geographical Definition

Limerick

geographical name

Lim·​er·​ick ˈli-mə-rik 

ˈlim-rik

1

county of southwestern Ireland in Munster area 1037 square miles (2696 square kilometers), population 191,809

2

city and port on the Shannon River in southwestern Ireland population 57,106

Note: The city of Limerick is the capital of the county of Limerick.