rhyming slang

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noun

a form of slang in which a rhyming word or phrase is substituted for the word intended, as Kate and Sidney for steak and kidney or khaki rocks for army socks.

a further removal from the original word intended by ellipsis of the rhyming part, as titfer for tit for tat for hat.

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Origin of rhyming slang

First recorded in 1855–60

Words nearby rhyming slang

rhyme, rhyme or reason, no, rhyme royal, rhyme scheme, rhymester, rhyming slang, rhynchocephalian, rhynchophore, rhyolite, Rhys, rhythm

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use rhyming slang in a sentence

Not even Radio Bemba (Cuban slang for the rumor mill) had picked up the signal.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left Behind|Brin-Jonathan Butler|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It's a long trip, to be sure, illustrated here with the hypothetical slang "couch."
How Does Slang Become Slang?|The Daily Beast Video|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“I do all this stuff in the community and the haji mart over there,” he said, using the slang for Iraqis used by U.S. soldiers.
Awkward: This Democratic Judicial Candidate's Husband Is a White Supremacist|Gideon Resnick|August 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Jenna and Tamara (Jillian Rose Reed) her best friend, speak almost exclusively in inside jokes and ever-evolving slang.
In Praise of ‘Awkward’: OMFG MTV, Like, Really Gets High School|Amy Zimmerman|June 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

DI taught even 4-year-olds to understand sounds, syllables, and rhyming.
Equality Matters More Than Integration in Schools|John McWhorter|May 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She has real pretty manners when she is with them, and really tries not to talk slang.
Tessa Wadsworth's Discipline|Jennie M. Drinkwater
She did not powder too much, and she had the latest slang at her pink tongue's tip and was yet moderate in her use of it.
Cabin Fever|B. M. Bower
A well-bred person will take care not to use slang words and expressions.
The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness|Florence Hartley
You might do a good deal with a rhyming dictionary, you know; particularly if you let your hair grow.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume III (of 3)|Charles James Wills
But there must have been something besides this: it is plain that the pattern of rhyming romance was growing stale.
Sir Walter Scott|William Paton Ker

British Dictionary definitions for rhyming slang

rhyming slang

noun

slang in which a word is replaced by another word or phrase that rhymes with it; for example, apples and pears meaning stairs

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