rhyme

  • noun 1 correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, especially when used in poetry. 2 a short poem with rhyming lines. 3 rhyming poetry or verse. 4 a word with the same sound as another.

  • verb 1 (of a word, syllable, or line) have or end with a sound that corresponds to another. 2 (rhyme with) put (a word) together with (another word with a corresponding sound). 3 literary compose verse or poetry.

  — PHRASES rhyme or reason logical explanation. there’s no rhyme or reason to it.

  — DERIVATIVES rhymer noun.

  — ORIGIN Old French rime, from Greek rhuthmos ‘rhythm’.

Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary

About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day

Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names