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blank verse

[ blangk-vurs ]
/ ˈblæŋk ˈvɜrs /
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See synonyms for blank verse on Thesaurus.com
noun
unrhymed verse, especially the unrhymed iambic pentameter most frequently used in English dramatic, epic, and reflective verse.

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Origin of blank verse

First recorded in 1580–90

Words nearby blank verse

blankety-blank, blankly, blank shell, blank slate, blank tape, blank verse, blank wall, blanquette, blanquette de veau, Blanqui, blanquillo
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to blank verse

ballad, composition, epic, lyric, poetry, rhyme, sonnet, verse, writing, beat, creation, haiku, limerick, lines, ode, poesy, quatrain, rime, rune, song

How to use blank verse in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for blank verse

blank verse
noun
prosody unrhymed verse, esp in iambic pentameters
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for blank verse

blank verse

Verse written in iambic pentameter, without rhyme. Many of the speeches in the plays of William Shakespeare are written in blank verse; this example is from Macbeth:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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