heroic couplet

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noun Prosody.

a stanza consisting of two rhyming lines in iambic pentameter, especially one forming a rhetorical unit and written in an elevated style, as, Know then thyself, presume not God to scan / The proper study of Mankind is Man.

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“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

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Origin of heroic couplet

First recorded in 1900–05

Words nearby heroic couplet

Herodias, Herodotus, Herod the Great, heroic, heroic age, heroic couplet, heroic drama, heroicize, heroicomic, heroic poem, heroic quatrain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use heroic couplet in a sentence

Sometimes they do heroic things, sometimes they wish they could.
After The Fall: Introducing The Anti-Villain|Rich Goldstein|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Shockingly, this last couplet made it into the 1953 film version; someone was napping over at MGM.
When Broadway Musicals Were Dark And Subversive|Laurence Maslon|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Claret for boys, port for men, and brandy for heroes, according to Dr. Johnson, and Hitch went for the heroic.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Hamas called the attack “heroic” and, disgustingly, tweeted out photos of the bodies.
Mass Murder in the Holy City|Michael Tomasky|November 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST

It is this kind of abstraction that leads to more mythology, more heroic narratives, more undertones of patriotic martyrdom.
War Is About More Than Heroes, Martyrs, and Patriots|Nathan Bradley Bethea|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Again, she was present at the battle of Silan, where her heroic example of courage infused new life into her brother rebels.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
It is not likely that the inhabitants of Ivrea, who thus commemorate her heroic deed, will ever forget their Mugnaia.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
All men are not heroes, and in many countries men may become average hunters without being particularly heroic.
Hunting the Lions|R.M. Ballantyne
We shook each other by the hand, and congratulated one another mutually, as if we had done some great and heroic deed.
A Woman's Journey Round the World|Ida Pfeiffer
He was in love, and, being very young, wanted to do something insanely heroic.
Uncanny Tales|Various

British Dictionary definitions for heroic couplet

heroic couplet

noun

prosody a verse form consisting of two rhyming lines in iambic pentameter

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