Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To use alliteration in speech or writing.
- v. To have or contain alliteration.
- v. To form or arrange with alliteration.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To begin with the same letter or sound, as two or more words in immediate or near succession; agree in initial letter or sound; make an alliteration.
- To use alliteration.
- n. One given to the use of alliteration.
- Formed by or showing alliteration: as, alliterate words.
Wiktionary
- v. to use alliteration
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To employ or place so as to make alliteration.
- v. To compose alliteratively; also, to constitute alliteration.
WordNet 3.0
- v. use alliteration as a form of poetry
Etymologies
- Back-formation from alliteration. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“(What you meant, I assume, was "alliterate", as in "bobby bounced a bright blue ball before bounding back to billy's")”
“(Like Chesterton, I alliterate too much; and for the same reason, which is that I will not knock off using the right word and seek a feeble substitute, merely because too many of the right words begin with the same letter of the alphabet.)”
“Perhaps you could give us the some sort of creatively alliterate Christmas film list.”
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“I will also pitch the other more wordy, alliterate, and somewhat baser title that came to mind:”
“Justice Peter Zarella, for example, made a thoughtful and alliterate injunction: "The ancient definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman has its basis in biology, not bigotry.”
“Pastors on Patrol" reminds me of Hell's Grannies and "Irish Send Fast Filly to Feature in Festival" is too lyrical to be anything but an alliterate contrivance.”
“Scanning verse is infinitely more complex that we lead students to realize (lest they despair), so I would say that the meter of the line is perfectly acceptable OE verse, though, as you point out, it doesn't alliterate.”
“By nonreader, we met alliterate — someone who can read perfectly well, but prefers other forms of communication and art over text.”
“| Reply being the notorious nitpicker (and alliterate to boot!) that I am.”
“Whether two sounds are perceived to alliterate depends on how close they are to each other, whether the two syllables are stressed or not, and - the issue here - whether the sounds are sufficiently phonetically similar to be perceived to be 'the same'.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘alliterate’.
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GRE
Taisha GRE Bible
archaic, archetype, archipelago, architect, archive, arctic, ardor, arduous, argot, arid, armory, arrest and 289 more...
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cloudjuice's Words
schadenfreude, sordid, promulgate, erratic, erroneous, amalgamate, sesquipedalian, incongruous, psychosis, etymology, simulacrum, serendipity and 988 more...
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TheLastGoodNameLeft
The Last Good Words Left
ephemera, gammon, errata, ellipses, octopi, heteronormative, polyp, intersectionality, theses, california, halfback, fullback and 555 more...
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word list
abandon, ache, augment, avow, atone, approbate, apprehend, abut, apostatize, abase, abash, abate and 155 more...
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New Words LawPols
Tweets
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