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rhyme

n. · v.
US //ˈɹaɪm// UK //ɹˈaɪm// rhyme
  1. 1 matching sounds (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    the use of words that have the same ending sounds, especially in poems or songs.

    the correspondence of terminal sounds in words or lines of verse. Uncountable in this abstract sense.

    Example

    The children's book uses rhyme to make the story easier to remember.

    Example

    The poet's subtle use of internal rhyme creates a melodic quality that persists even when the meter becomes irregular.
  2. 2 a matching word (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    a specific word that sounds like another word.

    a word that corresponds with another in its terminal sound.

    Example

    Can you think of a rhyme for the word 'orange'?

    Example

    The songwriter struggled to find a perfect rhyme for the final line, eventually settling on a slant rhyme to maintain the emotional tone.
Show 4 more sensesShow fewer
  1. 3 short poem (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    a short poem or piece of writing that uses matching sounds.

    a short piece of poetry or verse, often intended for children, characterized by regular rhyme and rhythm.

    Example

    She sang a simple nursery rhyme to help the baby fall asleep.

    Example

    The collection includes several traditional rhymes that have been passed down through oral history for centuries.
  2. 4 rap lyrics (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal Slang Music

    the lyrics or verses in a rap or hip-hop song.

    a rapped verse or the lyrical content of a hip-hop performance. Often used in the plural.

    Example

    The rapper spent all night writing new rhymes for his upcoming album.

    Example

    The artist is widely respected for his complex rhymes and his ability to maintain a flow over unconventional beats.
  3. 5 to sound the same (v.)
    B1 Intermediate

    to have the same ending sound as another word.

    to have or terminate in the same vowel and consonant sounds. Intransitive, often taking the preposition 'with'.

    Example

    Does the word 'cat' rhyme with 'hat'?

    Example

    In English poetry, 'love' and 'move' are often treated as eye rhymes, though they do not actually rhyme in modern pronunciation.
  4. 6 to write verse (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    to write poems or lyrics that use matching sounds.

    to compose rhyming verse or to arrange words so that they rhyme.

    Example

    He liked to rhyme about his travels in his personal journal.

    Example

    The satirist rhymed his critiques of the government into catchy songs that were easily shared among the public.
    • versify
    • poetize
Etymology 1

From Middle English rim, rime, ryme (“identical letters or sounds in words from the vowel in their stressed syllables to their ends; measure, meter, rhythm; song, verse, etc., with rhyming lines”), from Anglo-Norman rime, ryme (“identical letters or sounds in words from the vowel in their stressed syllables to their ends; song, verse, etc., with rhyming lines”) (modern French rime); further etymology uncertain, possibly either: from Latin rhythmus (“rhythm”), from Ancient Greek ῥῠθμός (rhŭthmós, “measured motion, rhythm; regular, repeating motion, vibration”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European srew- (“to flow; a stream”); or borrowed from Frankish rīm (“number, order, sequence, series, row of identical things”) (whence Old English rīm (“number, enumeration, series”)), from Proto-Indo-European h₂rey- (“to arrange; to count”) and h₂er- (“to fit, put together; to fix; to slot”). Cognates * Ancient Greek ἀριθμός (arithmós, “number”) * Dutch rijm (“rhyme”) * Middle Low German rīm (“rhyme”) * Old Frisian rīm (“number, amount, tale”) * Old High German rīm (“series, row, number”) (modern German Reim (“rhyme”)) * Old Irish rīm (“number”) * Old Norse rím (“calculation, calendar”) (Icelandic rím (“rhyme”), Norwegian rim (“rhyme”), Swedish rim (“rhyme”)) * Welsh rhif (“number”)

Etymology 2

From Middle English rimen, rymen, rim, rime (“to recite or write verse; to sing songs; to tell a story in verse; to fit into verse; (figurative) to agree, make sense”), from Anglo-Norman rimer, Middle French rimer, and Old French rimer (“to rhyme (a word) with another word; to write verse”) (modern French rimer), Old French rime, ryme (noun): see etymology 1. Cognates * Catalan rimar * Icelandic ríma * Italian rimar * Middle Dutch rīmen (modern Dutch rijmen) * Middle High German rīmen (modern German reimen) * Middle Low German rīmen * Old Danish rime (modern Danish rime) * Old Occitan rimar (“to rhyme (a word) with another word; to write verse”) * Old Swedish rima (modern Swedish rima) * Portuguese rimar * Spanish rimar

Idioms2 entries

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