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iambus

[ahy-am-buhs] / aɪˈæm bəs /
NOUN
iambic pentameter
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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By the elision of e in the, as is customary, the whole of the intended effect is lost; for th'unbend is nothing more than the usual iambus.

From Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII No. 1 January 1848 by Robert Taylor Conrad

In a lonely hollow walk, overgrown with sting-nettles he scanned the deadly verses on his fingers, until the murderous iambus flowed evenly upon its four feet without a halting choliambus.

From Withered Leaves. Vol. I. (of III) A Novel by Rudolf von Gottschall

The trochee and the dactyl are interchangeable; and the iambus and the anapest are interchangeable.

From English: Composition and Literature by W. F. (William Franklin) Webster

This influence of the chief accent affects also combinations of two monosyllabic words which make an iambus, and combinations like ego illi, age ergo, in which the second syllable of the second word is elided.

From The Student's Companion to Latin Authors by George Middleton

Since both the iambus and the anapest are accented on the last syllable, they may be interchanged.

From Composition-Rhetoric by Stratton D. Brooks

Here the tendency is to use iambi and anapests in alternate feet; see especially lines 2, 3, and 5.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden

Bibaculus wrote poems against the monarchical party; these are referred to as iambi by Quintilian, x.

From The Student's Companion to Latin Authors by George Middleton

Robert darted to the door, and rushed to the inn, leaving Caumill describing iambi on the road behind him.

From Robert Falconer by George MacDonald

Note the iambi in the Shelley stanza, line 1, second foot, and line 5, first foot.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden

Here frequent iambi are substituted for anapests; as in line 1, second and fourth feet; lines 2 and 3, fifth foot; line 5, third foot.

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Raymond MacDonald Alden

Thus we have learned to scan lines by iambuses, or rather by their accentual imitations, and a perfect line would consist of ten syllables, of which the alternate ones bore a rhythmical stress.

From The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] Introduction and Publisher's Advertising by William George Clark

But the tendency of the Alexandrine consisting merely of the usual iambuses, is to convey slowness—although it conveys this idea feebly, on account of conveying it indirectly.

From Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII No. 1 January 1848 by Robert Taylor Conrad

It does not have to consist of five iambuses only, but other feet may be substituted almost at the caprice of the poet.

From The Literature of Ecstasy by Albert Mordell

Trimeter iambus, consisting of six feet, which are generally all iambuses.

From History of Roman Literature from its Earliest Period to the Augustan Age. Volume I by John Dunlop

It was not by chance that the line of five iambuses became the dominant metre of our language.

From Writings in the United Amateur, 1915-1922 by H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft


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