rhyming slang

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.

Origin of rhyming slang

First recorded in 1855–60

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

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