rhyme
Americannoun
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rhymes
plural
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identity in sound of some part, especially the end, of words or lines of verse.
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a word agreeing with another in terminal sound: Find is a rhyme for mind and womankind.
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verse or poetry having correspondence in the terminal sounds of the lines.
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a poem or piece of verse having such correspondence.
verb (used with object)
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rhymes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rhymed,
past participle, past
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rhyming
present participle
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to treat in rhyme, as a subject; turn into rhyme, as something in prose.
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to compose (verse or the like) in metrical form with rhymes.
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to use (a word) as a rhyme to another word; use (words) as rhymes.
verb (used without object)
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rhymes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rhymed,
past participle, past
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rhyming
present participle
-
to make rhyme or verse; versify.
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to use rhyme in writing verse.
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to form a rhyme, as one word or line with another.
a word that rhymes with orange.
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to be composed in metrical form with rhymes, as verse.
poetry that rhymes.
idioms
noun
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identity of the terminal sounds in lines of verse or in words
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a word that is identical to another in its terminal sound
``while'' is a rhyme for ``mile''
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a verse or piece of poetry having corresponding sounds at the ends of the lines
the boy made up a rhyme about his teacher
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any verse or piece of poetry
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sense, logic, or meaning
this proposal has no rhyme or reason
verb
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to use (a word) or (of a word) to be used so as to form a rhyme; be or make identical in sound
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to render (a subject) into rhyme
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to compose (verse) in a metrical structure
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonrhymenoun
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rhymernoun
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outrhymeverb (used with object)
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unrhymeverb (used with object)
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interrhymeverb (used without object)
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misrhymedadjective
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nonrhymedadjective
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nonrhymingadjective
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rhymelessadjective
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well-rhymedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rhymesimple
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rhymessimple
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have rhymedperfect
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has rhymedperfect
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am rhymingprogressive
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are rhymingprogressive
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is rhymingprogressive
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have been rhymingperfect progressive
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has been rhymingperfect progressive
Past
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rhymedsimple
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had rhymedperfect
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was rhymingprogressive
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were rhymingprogressive
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had been rhymingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rhyme
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English rime, from Old French, derivative of rimer “to rhyme,” from unattested Gallo-Romance rimāre “to put in a row,” ultimately derived from Old High German rīm “series, row”; probably not connected with Latin rhythmus “rhythm,” although current spelling (from about 1600) is apparently by association with this word
Explanation
A rhyme is when the ending sounds of two words sound alike — like "mouse" and "house" or "complain" and "sustain." If you have a knack for rhyme, you might have a bright future as a poet. “True wit is nature to advantage dress'd; / What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd”: lines of rhyme written by English poet Alexander Pope. The way “dress’d” and “express’d” sound, that’s rhyme. Rhyme shares the same Latin root as rhythm, and poetry that rhymes does have a rhythm to it, like in a song. Rhyme is a noun for similar sounds or a poem that uses rhyme, and it’s also a verb, like saying, “What rhymes with orange?”
Vocabulary lists containing rhyme
Poetry: Literary Devices
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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AP English Lit exam terms
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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:
He tested his nursery rhyme remixes at a festival for adults in Hong Kong, dropping “If You’re Happy and You Know It” into standard sets to surprisingly raucous response.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Its name is inspired by the nursery rhyme Old Mother Goose, reflecting the idea of an ancient goose emerging from the mud of a fossil deposit.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
Their lead single “Fabienk” is studded with hair-trigger riffs — if you can even call them that — that mix the playful nursery rhyme melodies of Battles with the no-wave drone of Sonic Youth.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
But the leverage dynamics rhyme strongly, and Shin’s entire intellectual project has been to arrest leverage booms before they tip over.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
Several children saw the funny side of the rhyme and laughed.
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
“The parents learn the value of those interactions with their children. The importance of spending time truly talking, not just directive talk … but open-ended questions, using songs and rhymes, storytelling, descriptive language.”
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026
The problem with the 2030s is that it rhymes with the 1930s, which was a horrible period for geopolitical crises.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
Dixon's fast-paced rhymes helped the songs stand out on the radio, and she became known for phrases such as "We're coming back strong", "M-I-S-T-double-E-Q", "Away we go" and "Enter!"
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
Not that I’m caterwauling about lost Lloyd Webber rhymes, but the musical numbers start to pile up.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
He has a metrically organised rhythmic structure, able to support the shape of the words of a poem, successfully allowing important stress syllables or rhymes to fall at the appropriate point in the music.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
“The struggles of these ordinary farming folk in rural China really rhymed with what was suddenly happening to farming folk in the U.S.A.,” says Peter Conn, emeritus professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 21, 2026
It was cheerful and rhymed but lacked oomph.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2025
In 2002, he even made fun of the situation with the self-deprecating I Will Talk And Hollywood Will Listen, in which the title rhymed with the lyric "Mr Spielberg look just what you're missing".
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2024
There are, in fact, some rather disturbing rhymed couplets, if you will.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2024
“There! How’s that? Now will you stay, since it rhymed and all?”
From "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder
The series’ musical landscape also includes a myriad of folk songs, such as the drunken tavern tune “Alice With Three Fingers” and the childish rhyming couplets of “The Hammer and the Anvil.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
MS Now‘s Jacob Soboroff played Mamdani the rhyming boast that begin’s “My mayor’s Muslim, my bagel’s Jewish.”
From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2026
A relatively anonymous take on Dua Lipa's dance-pop, it loses points for rhyming "fire" with "desire" - but I can't get it out of my head.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
Until we see persistent, continual job losses over a long period of time across the entire economy, the safe bet is that history is simply rhyming.
From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026
Playing the dozens, rapping and rhyming to see who’ll back down first.
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Definitions 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.
