rhyme

American  

[rahym] / raɪm /

Sometimes rime

noun

• rhymes
  plural

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)

• rhymes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• rhymed,
  past participle,  past
• rhyming
  present participle

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)

• rhymes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• rhymed,
  past participle,  past
• rhyming
  present participle

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• rhymes
  plural

Participles

• rhyming
  present
• rhymed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• rhyme
  simple
• rhymes
  simple
• have rhymed
  perfect
• has rhymed
  perfect
• am rhyming
  progressive
• are rhyming
  progressive
• is rhyming
  progressive
• have been rhyming
  perfect progressive
• has been rhyming
  perfect progressive

Past

• rhymed
  simple
• had rhymed
  perfect
• was rhyming
  progressive
• were rhyming
  progressive
• had been rhyming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will rhyme
  simple
• will have rhymed
  perfect
• will be rhyming
  progressive
• will have been rhyming
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

rhyme rhymes rhymed rhyming

From certain angles it seems not much bigger than the shoe occupied by the old woman in the nursery rhyme.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 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

"Remember the rhyme about mice I taught you when you were little?"

From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman

The writing team researched medieval songs and kids’ rhymes to develop the tunes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 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

The white peak of the Chimborazo rhymes with the white of a waterfall in the foreground, which serves as the focal point of the composition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

History doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes, as the maxim has it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026

Silly songs and rhymes with interesting onomatopoeic sounds and simple, repetitive words are also highly useful, such as “Galumph Went the Little Green Frog” and “Jelly in a Bowl.”

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

The projections of period décor were charming, as was the slightly antiquated rhymed English text of the titles, but the undirected singers missed the energy of a fully realized performance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

There are, in fact, some rather disturbing rhymed couplets, if you will.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2024

The rhymed verse the characters speak in doesn’t at all hinder them from expressing themselves colloquially, in idioms that sound better with a languorous Southern lilt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2024

Jester, troubadour, agent provocateur, Serge Gainsbourg rhymed his way through life in a fog of Gitanes smoke, making music of every genre.

From New York Times ● Sep. 25, 2023

That rhymed too, but what kind of instructions were those?

From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman

One story is told in rhyming couplets and another is conveyed entirely in images of paw and footprints.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 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

Our Gravedigger speaks to us, and to the moon, about her heart’s desire in charming cockney rhyming slang.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2026

To be honest, she was more impressed than envious when it came to Mini’s knack for rhyming.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi

Related Words

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