Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Consisting of iambs or characterized by their predominance.
  • noun An iamb.
  • noun A verse, stanza, or poem written in iambs.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to the iambus; employing iambics: as, iambic meter; an iambic poet.
  • Consisting of an iambus, or of iambics: as, an iambic foot; an iambic verse or poem.
  • noun In prosody: Same as iambus
  • noun Averse or metrical period consisting of iambi.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Pros.) Consisting of a short syllable followed by a long one, or of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented.
  • adjective Pertaining to, or composed of, iambics
  • noun An iambic foot; an iambus.
  • noun A verse composed of iambic feet.
  • noun A satirical poem (such poems having been anciently written in iambic verse); a satire; a lampoon.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Prosody Consisting of iambs or characterized by their predominance
  • noun prosody An iamb; A line or group of lines of iambs.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of or consisting of iambs
  • noun a verse line consisting of iambs

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ἰαμβικός.

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Examples

  • In this poem the feet are iambic and there are four of them, consequently we name the meter of this poem _iambic tetrameter_.

    Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 7 Charles Herbert Sylvester

  • "The twilight hours like birds flew by," is made up of four iambic feet, and is therefore an _iambic tetrameter_.

    Elementary Guide to Literary Criticism 1891

  • But I hope it shows that what we call iambic pentameter is really, if you count the rest the way you must count it, a kind of slow waltz rhythm.

    THE ANTHOLOGIST Nicholson Baker 2009

  • But I hope it shows that what we call iambic pentameter is really, if you count the rest the way you must count it, a kind of slow waltz rhythm.

    THE ANTHOLOGIST Nicholson Baker 2009

  • A poem of 14 lines in iambic pentameter, which follows the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efefgg.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » The Lawyer-Poet 2010

  • I also left wanting to speak extemporaneously in iambic pentameter, but that is Shagspeare's fault.

    Macbeth joshenglish 2009

  • When you've got a couple of top-five New York Times best sellers under your belt and you want to do a five hundred page exploration of terrorism in iambic pentameter, go for it.

    An Interview with Kyle Mills 2010

  • In your graduate studies, did you find out why most of her poetry was written in iambic tetrameter?

    vivace - French Word-A-Day 2010

  • A poem of 14 lines in iambic pentameter, which follows the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efefgg.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » The Lawyer-Poet 2010

  • Written in iambic tetrameter, it is better known today by the title “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”

    2008 December 10 « One-Minute Book Reviews 2008

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