rhyme

American  

[rahym] / raɪm /

Sometimes rime

noun

1. identity in sound of some part, especially the end, of words or lines of verse.

2. a word agreeing with another in terminal sound: Find is a rhyme for mind and womankind.

3. verse or poetry having correspondence in the terminal sounds of the lines.

4. a poem or piece of verse having such correspondence.

5. verse.

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verb (used with object)

rhymed, rhyming

1. to treat in rhyme, as a subject; turn into rhyme, as something in prose.

2. to compose (verse or the like) in metrical form with rhymes.

3. to use (a word) as a rhyme to another word; use (words) as rhymes.

verb (used without object)

rhymed, rhyming

1. to make rhyme or verse; versify.

2. to use rhyme in writing verse.

3. to form a rhyme, as one word or line with another.

   a word that rhymes with orange.

4. to be composed in metrical form with rhymes, as verse.

   poetry that rhymes.

idioms

1. rhyme or reason, logic, sense, or plan.

   There was no rhyme or reason for what they did.

rhyme British  

/ raɪm /

noun

1. identity of the terminal sounds in lines of verse or in words

2. a word that is identical to another in its terminal sound

   ``while'' is a rhyme for ``mile''

3. a verse or piece of poetry having corresponding sounds at the ends of the lines

   the boy made up a rhyme about his teacher

4. any verse or piece of poetry

5. sense, logic, or meaning

   this proposal has no rhyme or reason

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verb

1. to use (a word) or (of a word) to be used so as to form a rhyme; be or make identical in sound

2. to render (a subject) into rhyme

3. to compose (verse) in a metrical structure

rhyme Cultural  

1. A similarity of sound between words, such as moon, spoon, croon, tune, and June. Rhyme is often employed in verse.

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Other Word Forms

• interrhyme
  verb (used without object)
• misrhymed
  adjective
• nonrhyme
  noun
• nonrhymed
  adjective
• nonrhyming
  adjective
• outrhyme
  verb (used with object)
• rhymeless
  adjective
• rhymer
  noun
• unrhyme
  verb (used with object)
• well-rhymed
  adjective

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?”

Example Sentences

Jockey's dad Brendan Powell Sr rode Rhyme 'N' Reason to victory in 1988.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2024

Rhyme as meaning, language as music — and all of it insisting that we remain open, conscious, present in the poem as it unfolds.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 7, 2023

The event's title, "A Night When Hope and History Rhyme," is drawn from a poem by the Irish writer Seamus Heaney, who Biden often quotes.

From Reuters • Sep. 20, 2022

Rhyme: repetition of sounds, usually at the ends of lines in poems, but also occurring at other intervals in a line.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

She paused for a moment, then continued: “If only Rhyme and Reason were here, I’m sure things would improve.”

From "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster

Related Words

• cadence
• poem
• poetry
• rhythm
• tune
• verse