alliterate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to show alliteration.
In “Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran,” the “r” alliterates.
-
to use alliteration.
Swinburne often alliterates.
verb (used with object)
verb
-
to contain or cause to contain alliteration
-
(intr) to speak or write using alliteration
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of alliterate
First recorded in 1810–20; back formation from alliteration
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“And he really did alliterate like that when you talked to him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2018
And he really did alliterate like that when you talked to him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2018
It helps that the words "latte" and "liberalism" alliterate.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2014
The real problem with the Washington Bullets name was that it didn't alliterate, and the reason it didn't alliterate was that Abe Pollin stole the Baltimore Bullets.
From Slate ● Jan. 12, 2010
Any initial vowel or diphthong may alliterate with any other initial vowel or diphthong; but a consonant requires the same consonant, except st, sp, and sc, each of which alliterates only with itself.
From Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso) Smith
“A passeggiata in pineta is just pleasure,” Mr. Pasanella alliterated, using the Italian word for walk.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2022
Neatly alliterated with Mr. Hughes's name in the Eastern Republican powwows, was the name of Herbert C. Hoover, for Vice President.
From Time Magazine Archive
He received innumerable complimentary and alliterated nicknames, and a match with noisy and preposterous Max Baer.
From Time Magazine Archive
But Mr. Hoover's name was alliterated with nothing but itself in the Republican talk elsewhere.
From Time Magazine Archive
And so I fashioned my apt phrases, and weighed my synonyms, and echoed this or that vowel very skilfully, I thought, and alliterated my consonants with discretion.
From The Cords of Vanity A Comedy of Shirking by James Branch Cabell
Every line attains double alliteration in the first half, with one alliterating word only in the second half.
From Beowulf An Introduction to the Study of the Poem with a Discussion of the Stories of Offa and Finn by R. W. Chambers
The ‘h’ may have been carried over from the three alliterating ‘h’s.’
From Beowulf An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem by Lesslie Hall
The art of subtle suggestion could hardly go further than in this line, where the alliterating v's, the mute e's, and the placing of the long syllables combine so wonderfully to produce the required effect.
From Books and Characters French and English by Giles Lytton Strachey
The strong accents of the alliterating syllables supply the music with firmness, while the low-toned syllables give opportunity for the most varied nuances of declamation.
From The Great German Composers by George T. (George Titus) Ferris
It is also the only alliterating syllable in the second half-line.
From Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso) Smith
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
