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Webster 1913 Edition


Rhyme

Rhyme

,
Noun.
[OE.
ryme
,
rime
, AS.
rīm
number; akin to OHG.
rīm
number, succession, series, G.
reim
rhyme. The modern sense is due to the influence of F.
rime
, which is of German origin, and originally the same word.]
[The Old English spelling
rime
is becoming again common. See Note under
Prime
.]
1.
An expression of thought in numbers, measure, or verse; a composition in verse; a rhymed tale; poetry; harmony of language.
“Railing rhymes.”
Daniel.
A
ryme
I learned long ago.
Chaucer.
He knew
Himself to sing, and build the lofty
rime
.
Milton.
2.
(Pros.)
Correspondence of sound in the terminating words or syllables of two or more verses, one succeeding another immediately or at no great distance. The words or syllables so used must not begin with the same consonant, or if one begins with a vowel the other must begin with a consonant. The vowel sounds and accents must be the same, as also the sounds of the final consonants if there be any.
For
rhyme
with reason may dispense,
And sound has right to govern sense.
Prior.
3.
Verses, usually two, having this correspondence with each other; a couplet; a poem containing rhymes.
4.
A word answering in sound to another word.
Female rhyme
.
See under
Female
.
Male rhyme
.
See under
Male
.
Rhyme or reason
,
sound or sense.
Rhyme royal
(Pros.)
,
a stanza of seven decasyllabic verses, of which the first and third, the second, fourth, and fifth, and the sixth and seventh rhyme.

Rhyme

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Rhymed
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Rhyming
.]
[OE.
rimen
,
rymen
, AS.
rīman
to count: cf. F.
rimer
to rhyme. See
Rhyme
,
Noun.
]
1.
To make rhymes, or verses.
“Thou shalt no longer ryme.”
Chaucer.
There marched the bard and blockhead, side by side,
Who
rhymed
for hire, and patronized for pride.
Pope.
2.
To accord in rhyme or sound.
And, if they
rhymed
and rattled, all was well.
Dryden.

Rhyme

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To put into rhyme.
Sir T. Wilson.
2.
To influence by rhyme.
Hearken to a verser, who may chance
Rhyme
thee to good.
Herbert.

Webster 1828 Edition


Rhyme

RHYME

,

Definition 2024


rhyme

rhyme

See Wiktionary:Rhymes for a list of Rhymes pages in Wiktionary

English

Alternative forms

Noun

rhyme (usually uncountable, plural rhymes)

  1. (obsolete) Number.
  2. (countable, uncountable) Rhyming verse (poetic form)
    Many editors say they don't want stories written in rhyme.
  3. A thought expressed in verse; a verse; a poem; a tale told in verse.
    Tennyson’s rhymes
  4. (countable) A word that rhymes with another.
    Norse poetry is littered with rhymes like "sól ... sunnan".
    Rap makes use of rhymes such as "money ... honey" and "nope ... dope".
    1. (countable, in particular) A word that rhymes with another, in that it is pronounced identically with the other word from the vowel in its stressed syllable to the end.
      "Awake" is a rhyme for "lake".
  5. (uncountable) Rhyming: sameness of sound of part of some words.
    The poem exhibits a peculiar form of rhyme.
  6. (linguistics) rime

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

rhyme (third-person singular simple present rhymes, present participle rhyming, simple past and past participle rhymed)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To number; count; reckon.
  2. (transitive, intransitive) To compose or treat in verse; versify.
    • 1742, Alexander Pope, The Dunciad, book 4, lines 101-102:
      There marched the bard and blockhead, side by side,
      Who rhymed for hire, and patronized for pride.
  3. (transitive, followed by with) Of a word, to be pronounced identically with another from the vowel in its stressed syllable to the end.
    "Creation" rhymes with "integration" and "station".
  4. (reciprocal) Of two or more words, to be pronounced identically from the vowel in the stressed syllable of each to the end of each.
    "Mug" and "rug" rhyme.
    "India" and "windier" rhyme with each other in non-rhotic accents.
  5. (transitive) To put words together so that they rhyme.
    I rewrote it to make it rhyme.

Derived terms

Translations