poetry consisting of five parts per line, each part having one short or unstressed syllable and one long or stressed syllable
(LDOCE 3)[C,U] a common pattern of beats in English poetry, in which each line consists of five iambs.
a metrical form in which the basic foot is an iamb and most lines consist of five iambs; iambic pentameter is the most common poetic meter in English: "One com | mon note | on ei | ther lyre | did strike" (Dryden, "To the Memory of Mr. Oldham")
a line of five feet (a foot is two syllables), in which the emphasis falls on the first syllable of the foot
line of poetry thtat contains five iambs
A metrical line of five feet or units, each made up of an unstressed then a stressed syllable (e.g. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Macbeth, II.1.44) See Meter, Poetry
Verse lines written mostly with the stress pattern of five units of light-heavy. An iamb is a poetic foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. The word delay is naturally an iamb. Pentameter means "five feet" or five metrical units. Hence iambic pentameter means verse lines composed of five iambs per line. In the verse line "The curfew tolls the knell of parting day," stress falls on the first syllable of "curfew," "tolls," "knell," the first syllable of "parting," and "day." The symbol for light stress is while the symbol for heavy stress is the acute accent above the stressed syllable ('). Most of the verse lines in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare's dramatic lines, and Milton's blank verse lines in Paradise Lost are written in this pattern.
The most common verse line in English poetry. It consists of five verse feet, with each foot an iamb-that is, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Shakespeare’s plays are written almost exclusively in iambic pentameter.
A type of meter in poetry, in which there are five iambs to a line. (The prefix penta- means "five," as in pentagon, a geometrical figure with five sides. Meter refers to rhythmic units. In a line of iambic pentameter, there are five rhythmic units that are iambs.) Shakespeare's plays were written mostly in iambic pentameter, which is the most common type of meter in English poetry. An example of an iambic pentameter line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is "But soft!/ What light/ through yon/der win/dow breaks?" Another, from Richard III, is "A horse horse!/ My king/dom for horse!" (The stressed syllables are in bold.)
a common line of English poetry consisting of five metrical (‘pentameter") feet, each foot being an iamb (unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one). Example: Kentucky is the greatest place on earth. The pentameter line is probably the most common line in English poetry. Poets often include other feet in a line that is basically iambic pentameter.
a poetic meter comprising five feet, each foot consisting of an unstressed or short syllable followed by a stressed or long syllable, making each line ten syllables long; variations on this meter are common
a metrical pattern in poetry which consists of five iambic feet per line. An iamb, or iambic foot, consists of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Example: Most of Shakespeare's plays and his sonnets were in iambic pentameter.
The most widely used metrical form in the English language; a line of poetry containing 5 iambs.
popular English verse form consisting of five metrical feet--with each foot consisting of an iamb (i.e., an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable: daDUM). Rhymed pairs of iambic pentameter are called heroic couplets (a form associated with Chaucer and Pope). Unrhymed iambic pentameter is called blank verse (a form associated with Shakespeare and Milton).
Iambic pentameter is a meter in poetry. It refers to a line consisting of five iambic feet. The word "pentameter" simply means that there are five feet in the line; iambic pentameter is a line comprising five iambs.