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Definition 2024


amphibrachic

amphibrachic

English

Adjective

amphibrachic (not comparable)

  1. Consisting of amphibrachs, metrical feet consisting of either a long syllable between two that are short, or an accented syllable between two that are not accented.
    • 1851, Goold Brown, The Grammar of English Grammars, 6th ed. edition:
      Father Humphrey says, "Anapaestic and amphibrachic verse, being similar in measure and movement, are pleasing to the ear, and well adapted to cheerful and humourous compositions; and sometimes to elegiac compositions, and subjects important and solemn."
    • 1988 December 23, Albert Williams, “Melissa, While She Sleeps”, in Chicago Reader:
      [] she will grow up to have long hair, a knack for the violin, an anonymous male admirer who writes her love poetry in amphibrachic tetrameter, and a son who dies in battle [] .

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