clerihew
[kler-uh-hyoo]
- a light verse form, usually consisting of two couplets, with lines of uneven length and irregular meter, the first line usually containing the name of a well-known person.
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Origin of clerihew
1925–30; named after E. Clerihew Bentley (1875–1956), English writer, its inventor
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for clerihew
Historical Examples
"Two gills to the coffin-room, Mrs. Clerihew," he cried to the woman in the kitchen.
The Shoes of FortuneNeil Munro
The three kept sentry, knowing that Clerihew must sooner or later return with his convoy, there being no other exit.
Brother CopasSir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
For a good five minutes the pair mauled Mrs. Clerihew, who, with an air of high gentility, went on ironing shirts.
Brother CopasSir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
But Mrs. Clerihew, between her lapses, clung passionately to gentility and the world's esteem.
Brother CopasSir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
When it was time to be going she thanked Mrs. Clerihew very prettily, and walked back with Brother Copas to her father's room.
Brother CopasSir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
clerihew
- a form of comic or satiric verse, consisting of two couplets of metrically irregular lines, containing the name of a well-known person
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Word Origin
C20: named after Edmund Clerihew Bentley, who invented it
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
Word Origin and History for clerihew
n.
humorous verse form, 1928, from English humorist Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956), who described it in a book published 1906 under the name E. Clerihew.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper