limerick
a kind of humorous verse of five lines, in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other, and the third and fourth lines, which are shorter, form a rhymed couplet.
Origin of limerick
1Words Nearby limerick
Other definitions for Limerick (2 of 2)
a county in N Munster, in the SW Republic of Ireland. 037 sq. mi. (2,686 sq. km).
its county seat: a seaport at the head of the Shannon estuary.
Angling. a fishhook having a sharp bend below the barb.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use limerick in a sentence
It’s probably okay, though, if you’ve just shared your limerick with friends on your Facebook page, on a little-seen blog, etc.
Get your ’rick rolling: Style Invitational limerick guide | Pat Myers (Empress of The Style Invitational) | June 16, 2021 | Washington PostThe best of our limericks build to a punchline, a clever ending.
Get your ’rick rolling: Style Invitational limerick guide | Pat Myers (Empress of The Style Invitational) | June 16, 2021 | Washington PostGood luck — and be sure to keep your limerick chops warmed up for our annual Limerixicon contest in August.
Get your ’rick rolling: Style Invitational limerick guide | Pat Myers (Empress of The Style Invitational) | June 16, 2021 | Washington PostWhen we ask for a limerick, we want it to observe several rules.
Get your ’rick rolling: Style Invitational limerick guide | Pat Myers (Empress of The Style Invitational) | June 16, 2021 | Washington PostThe Invitational is a humor contest, and so we want our limericks to be clever and funny.
Get your ’rick rolling: Style Invitational limerick guide | Pat Myers (Empress of The Style Invitational) | June 16, 2021 | Washington Post
No alarms were triggered as she strolled out of the Giant supermarket in limerick, Pennsylvania, and nobody thought otherwise.
The Insane $11 Billion Scam at Retailers’ Return Desks | M.L. Nestel | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI was born in limerick city but grew up in a small town in County Donegal—remote, windy, lots of rain.
As a teenager in 1952, Lee became pregnant and was immediately sent to a convent in Roscrea, County limerick.
Give Dame Judi Dench the Damn Oscar for ‘Philomena’ | Nico Hines | October 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd I was trying to illustrate that with a more familiar example, which would be something like the repetition of a limerick.
He was taken to a place in Ireland called limerick where he suffered undue hardships as opposed to due hardships.
Now the Waterford and limerick were to lose, not only the Ennis line, but all their lines and their own identity as well.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowOn the 8th we ran our first running power train, and the Joy Bells rang in limerick.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowIf only we could obtain running powers to limerick and carry them back to Ireland, we should have secured some of the spoil.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowClanricarde himself dared not say a word, and limerick threatened to be soon as bad as Galway.
Ireland Under the Tudors, Vol. II (of 3) | Richard BagwellHe had spoiled the Sheriff of limerick and threatened to cut his tongue out for complaining.
Ireland Under the Tudors, Vol. II (of 3) | Richard Bagwell
British Dictionary definitions for limerick (1 of 2)
/ (ˈlɪmərɪk) /
a form of comic verse consisting of five anapaestic lines of which the first, second, and fifth have three metrical feet and rhyme together and the third and fourth have two metrical feet and rhyme together
Origin of limerick
1British Dictionary definitions for Limerick (2 of 2)
/ (ˈlɪmərɪk) /
a county of SW Republic of Ireland, in N Munster province: consists chiefly of an undulating plain with rich pasture and mountains in the south. County town: Limerick. Pop: 175 304 (2002). Area: 2686 sq km (1037 sq miles)
a port in SW Republic of Ireland, county town of Limerick, at the head of the Shannon estuary. Pop: 86 998 (2002)
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 limerick
A form of humorous five-line verse, such as:
There once was a young man from Kew
Who found a dead mouse in his stew.
Said the waiter, “Don't shout
Or wave it about,
Or the rest will be wanting one too!”
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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