rhythm
rhythms
Use the noun rhythm to refer to the regular pattern of something in a cycle or the beat in a song. In the summer, your life takes on a different rhythm than during the school year.
Rhythm comes from the Greek rhythmos "measured movement, flow." The beat of a song or the meter of a poem is its rhythm. You can also describe the cycle of things that happen in life or nature like the ocean tide or the passing of the seasons as a rhythm. If you have no rhythm, you're not very good at dancing. And once your favorite basketball team has found its rhythm, you know it's going to win.
Definitions of rhythm
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an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs
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type of:
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interval, time interval
a definite length of time marked off by two instants
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interval, time interval
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recurrence at regular intervals
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synonyms:
regular recurrence
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types:
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cardiac rhythm, heart rhythm
the rhythm of a beating heart
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atrioventricular nodal rhythm, nodal rhythm
the normal cardiac rhythm when the heart is controlled by the atrioventricular node
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type of:
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cyclicity, periodicity
the quality of recurring at regular intervals
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cardiac rhythm, heart rhythm
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the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music“the piece has a fast rhythm”
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synonyms:
beat, musical rhythm
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types:
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backbeat
a loud steady beat
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downbeat
the first beat of a musical measure (as the conductor's arm moves downward)
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offbeat, upbeat
an unaccented beat (especially the last beat of a measure)
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syncopation
a musical rhythm accenting a normally weak beat
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type of:
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musical time
(music) the beat of musical rhythm
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the arrangement of spoken words alternating stressed and unstressed elements“the rhythm of Frost's poetry”
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synonyms:
speech rhythm
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type of:
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guide, template, templet
a model or standard for making comparisons
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inflection, prosody
the patterns of stress and intonation in a language
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guide, template, templet
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natural family planning in which ovulation is assumed to occur 14 days before the onset of a period (the fertile period would be assumed to extend from day 10 through day 18 of her cycle)
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synonyms:
calendar method, calendar method of birth control, rhythm method, rhythm method of birth control
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type of:
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natural family planning
any of several methods of family planning that do not involve sterilization or contraceptive devices or drugs; coitus is avoided during the fertile time of a woman's menstrual cycle
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natural family planning
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘rhythm'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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