1
: a division of a poem consisting of a series of lines arranged together in a usually recurring pattern of meter and rhyme : strophe
2
sports
: a period (such as a half or an inning) into which the duration of a game is divided
The game's prime moment wasn't the decisive and popular eighth-inning, two-run homer by Mark Bellhorn … but a sensational play by Boston's Manny Ramirez in the top of that same stanza.—
Roger Angell
Roger AngellExamples of stanza in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Dickinson sent the poem that begins with this stanza to the Evergreens on the occasion of Sue’s twenty-eighth birthday.
—Kamran Javadizadeh, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2024
Since unloading his fourth major-label outing, Encore, in 2004, the Detroit wordsmith has prioritized verbal aerobics over rhyme economy, and what were once incisive and justifiably defiant stanzas morphed into needless calisthenics, as genuine wit decayed into rote shock-value talking points.
—Peter A. Berry, SPIN, 25 July 2024
That brooding stanza then opened into a brighter-sounding chorus that fully reveals the man is reaching out from the afterlife.
—Tom Roland, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
While much of the text and song is translated, entire stanzas are left in Arabic, and certain oblique references are not explained.
—Harrison Jacobs, ARTnews.com, 3 Sep. 2019
See all Example Sentences for stanza 
Kamran Javadizadeh, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2024
Since unloading his fourth major-label outing, Encore, in 2004, the Detroit wordsmith has prioritized verbal aerobics over rhyme economy, and what were once incisive and justifiably defiant stanzas morphed into needless calisthenics, as genuine wit decayed into rote shock-value talking points.
—Peter A. Berry, SPIN, 25 July 2024
That brooding stanza then opened into a brighter-sounding chorus that fully reveals the man is reaching out from the afterlife.
—Tom Roland, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
While much of the text and song is translated, entire stanzas are left in Arabic, and certain oblique references are not explained.
—Harrison Jacobs, ARTnews.com, 3 Sep. 2019
See all Example Sentences for stanza
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stanza.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Stanza.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stanza. Accessed 20 Sep. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
stanza
noun
stan·za
ˈstan-zə 
: a division of a poem consisting of a series of lines arranged together in a usually repeating pattern of rhythm and rhyme
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