limerick

See also: Limerick
WOTD – 17 March 2007

English

Etymology

From the Irish town name Limerick, Irish Luimneach [ˈl̪ˠɪmʲənʲəx].

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈlɪməɹɪk/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

limerick (plural limericks)

  1. A humorous, often bawdy verse of five anapaestic lines, with the rhyme scheme aabba, and typically having a 9–9–6–6–9 cadence.
    • Description of the limerick in limerick form:
      The limerick, it would appear,
      Is a verse form we owe Edward Lear;
      Two long and two short
      Lines rhymed, as was taught,
      And a fifth just to bring up the rear.
    • 2006 May 24, Adrian Truss as Jerry Lewis and Jennifer Hale as Samantha “Sam”, “Sis-KaBOOM-Bah!”, in Totally Spies!: Undercover, season 4, episode 15, written by Rhonda Smiley, Teletoon, Marathon Media:
      Take a look. That’s Buffy, Muffy, and Fluffy.
      Do they have anything in common other than names you could write a limerick around?

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