rhythm
n. · v.-
1 music and speech (n.) B1 Intermediate Musica regular pattern of sounds or beats in music, poetry, or the way someone speaks.
the systematic arrangement of musical sounds, principally according to duration and periodic stress.
ExampleThe song has a fast, catchy rhythm that makes everyone want to dance.
ExampleThe drummer maintained a complex syncopated rhythm that challenged the rest of the jazz ensemble to stay in time during their solos.
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2 regular movement or flow (n.) B2 Upper Intermediatea regular pattern of movement or a steady way that something happens.
a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound in a physical or abstract process.
ExampleAfter a few miles, the runner found a steady rhythm and felt less tired.
ExampleIt took several weeks for the new team to establish a productive working rhythm and meet their weekly targets consistently.
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3 natural cycles (n.) B2 Upper Intermediate Sciencea natural pattern of change that happens again and again, like sleeping or the seasons.
a regularly recurring sequence of events or processes, often biological or environmental.
ExampleJet lag happens when you travel fast and upset your body's natural sleep rhythm.
ExampleCircadian rhythms govern various physiological processes, ensuring that the body performs specific functions at the most appropriate times of the day and night.
- cycle
- periodicity
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4 to give a beat to (v.) C2 Proficiency Formal Literaryto give something a regular beat or pattern.
to impart a specific rhythmic structure or cadence to a piece of work or movement.
ExampleThe poet worked hard to rhythm his lines so they sounded like the sea.
ExampleThe choreographer sought to rhythm the dancers' movements to mirror the industrial sounds of the city background.
First coined in 1557, from Latin rhythmus, from Ancient Greek ῥυθμός (rhuthmós, “any measured flow or movement, symmetry, rhythm”), from ῥέω (rhéō, “to flow, run, stream, gush”).
- Nounrhythm
- Adjectiverhythmic