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limerick definition

lim·er·ick (lim′ər ik, lim′rik)

noun

a nonsense poem of five anapestic lines, now often bawdy, usually with the rhyme scheme aabba, the first, second, and fifth lines having three stresses, the third and fourth having two: the form was popularized by Edward Lear (Ex.: There was a young lady named Harris, / Whom nothing could ever embarrass / Till the bath salts one day / In the tub where she lay / Turned out to be plaster of Paris)

Etymology: prob. < Ir refrain containing the name

Limerick definition

Lim·er·ick (lim′ər ik, lim′rik)

  1. county in SW Ireland, in Munster province: 1,037 sq mi (2,686 sq km); pop. 110,000
  2. its county seat: pop. 75,000

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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