Collins Rhyming Dictionary

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Foreword by Andrew Motion

Using the dictionary

Dictionary

-a-

-ah-

-air-

-ay-

-e-

-er-

-eer-

-ee-

-i-

-ire-

-ie-

-o-

-or-

-oor-

-ow-

-ower-

-oy-

-oe-

-u-

-uu-

-oo-

Index

Copyright

About the Publisher

Foreword

by Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate

Like a lot of people born shortly after the war, and starting to read poems in the 1960s, I was brought up to think that rhyming poetry was done for. My teachers regretted it, but the evidence of the contemporary they liked best (Ted Hughes), and the rising chorus of radical poets appearing at the Albert Hall and elsewhere, told them the great modernist experiment with free verse during the 1910s and ’20s was about to sweep all before it.

In fact things haven’t turned out like that. From the vantage point of a new century, we can see that although the modernist experiment has flourished and diversified, it has done so alongside a continuing tradition of poets doing the old things in new ways. In Great Britain, the rhyming line from Auden and the poets of the 1930s, through Betjeman and Larkin, has been extended through most of the major poets of the late c20, and forward into the best of our contemporaries.

Why is this? Loss of nerve? Another example of local reactionary instincts? I don’t think so. Rhyming poetry – and rhyme in poems which have no settled formal pattern – has survived because it is fundamental to our sense of what poetry is, and what it can achieve. Most of us make our first acquaintance with it in the playground, chanting and playing word games. We learn that rhyme brings words to life, gets them to dance, and makes them memorable. If we forget this later on, when we develop a more elaborate sense of language and a more sophisticated idea of composition, we do so at our peril.

But this isn’t to say metre has to be tum-ti-tum, and rhyme has to be obvious and orthodox. One of the best things about this excellent book is that it encourages us to think broadly about rhyme – to explore part-rhymes, para-rhymes and half-rhymes as well as full and complete ones. It’s easy to use, resourceful in its listing, and ambitious in its reach.

Will people who are already ‘professional’ writers feel it’s somehow beneath them to use it? They shouldn’t. One of the greatest pleasures of poetry, for its authors as well as its readers, is the way it combines a sincere exploration of the world and the self with a delight in tricks and playfulness. To varying degrees, poets are able to devise these games in the solitude of their own heads – but as with everything else in life, a little help never comes amiss. This help might clarify an internal process that is already under way. It might equally well lead to something unexpected and unplanned. Byron was not the only poet to admit that ‘a rhyme led me to a thought’.

Back at school in the ’60s, I mistakenly thought that rhyme was a hindrance: a way of blocking or re-routing what I ‘really wanted to say’. I soon saw the error of my ways. Rhyme – in all its delightful diversity of forms – is a reliable way to recognise and release strong feeling, as well as smart thinking, elegant compression and proper concentration. In this respect, the extent to which it appears ‘unnatural’ (in the sense that we don’t usually chat away to one another in rhyme) conceals a vital paradox. The ingenuity of rhyme is in fact a way of proving what is intrinsic to us as human beings.

Using the dictionary

How the words are arranged

The rhymes are arranged in sections according to the main vowel sound of the word. The first half of each section contains words with this sound as their final or only vowel sound (e.g. cat and unpack in the -a- section); the second half contains words with this sound followed by one or more weaker syllables (e.g. happy and examiner). The sections are as follows, in this order:

-a- (as in mat, unpack, happy, examiner)

-ah- (as in half, depart, larder, impartially)

-air- (as in hair, unfair, scarcely, bearable)

-ay- (as in same, display, waiting, Australia)

-e- (as in pen, infect, ready, separate)

-er- (as in her, return, working, university)

-eer- (as in beer, revere, fiercely, endearment)

-ee- (as in breed, complete, teacher, meaningless)

-i- (as in sit, evict, whistle, revision)

-ire- (as in tire, require, admirer, violently)

-ie- (as in try, untie, glider, reliable)

-o- (as in toss, forgot, copper, historical)

-or- (as in ford, implore, daughter, victorious)

-oor- (as in cure, endure, purely, maturity)

-ow- (as in cow, endow, louder, boundary)

-ower- (as in hour, empower, towering, floury)

-oy- (as in toy, enjoy, noisy, avoidable)

-oe- (as in boat, ago, grocer, totally)

-u- (as in run, instruct, double, gluttony)

-uu- (as in put, withstood, booking, womanly)

-oo- (as in too, rebuke, cruiser, beautiful)

Within each section, the words are arranged in numbered groups according to the sound that follows this vowel (e.g. at/bat/cat, adder/ladder/madder). Many of these groups contain words that are close but not perfect rhymes (e.g. hammer/banner), to give you a fuller range of possibilities.

Within each numbered group, the rhymes are divided by asterisks into sets of words with the same number of syllables (e.g. hack, jack, pack * aback, attack, repack) or with the same rhythm (e.g. aback, attack, repack * hatchback, knapsack, tailback).

How to find a particular rhyme

If you are looking for a rhyme for a particular word, the easiest way is to use the index at the back of the book, which will guide you to the numbered group in which your word appears. For example, batter is in group 2.10. Once you have found this group, cast your eye over all the words – you may find a close rhyme some distance away (e.g. regatta and antimatter). Some of the longer sets of rhymes, e.g. the -ation words, have been divided into several smaller groups, so it is always a good idea to look at the groups above and below the one containing the word you are trying to rhyme.

Words that have more than one sound appear in more than one group. For example, graph can rhyme with naff or half, so both group numbers are given in the index. Similarly, sow rhymes with cow when it means ‘female pig’ and with go when it means ‘put seed in ground’.

If your word is not in the index, does it have an extra ending, such as the -s of stamps or the -ed of dragged? If so, remove the ending and look for the main form of the word (i.e. stamp or drag). You may be able to add the same ending to other words in its group (e.g. cramps/lamps/tramps or bragged/lagged/sagged ). Many words with these endings have groups of their own, often with ‘etc.’ at the end, which means that more rhymes can be made by adding the same ending to other words. For example, group 1.4 contains some of the most common -acks words that rhyme with axe, but there is not room to include them all – you can make many more by adding -s to the other ack words in group 1.3.

If you still cannot find a suitable rhyme for your word, you may find a near-rhyme in another group. Words ending in the ‘f ’ sound, for example, are sometimes rhymed with words ending in the ‘v’ or ‘th’ sound (e.g. leaf/weave/teeth/breathe). Other letter sounds that can be paired in this way are ‘b’ and ‘p’ (crab/tap), ‘k’ and ‘g’ (rack/stag), ‘d’ and ‘t’ (bed/set), ‘m’ and ‘n’ (rim/thin), ‘s’ and ‘z’ (miss/fizz), and ‘sh’ and ‘ch’ (squash/watch).

Finally, here is a list of words that have no rhyme:

bilge

cusp

damask

depth

eighth

else

gouge

month

ninth

period

scarce

sixth

warmth

wasp

Welsh

width

-a-

The rhymes in this section have the ‘a’ sound of mat and happy as their main or final vowel sound.

1.1 blab, cab, crab, Crabbe, dab, drab, fab, flab, gab, grab, jab, lab, Mab, nab, scab, slab, stab, tab, * McNab, Cantab., kebab, vocab, * Ahab, spacelab, prefab, rehab, Skylab, confab, Joab, Moab, * smash-and-grab, hackney cab, taxicab, shish kebab, minicab, baobab

Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer had a very unusual gift of the gab,

They were highly efficient cat-burglars as well, and remarkably smart at a smash-and-grab.

T. S. ELIOT

1.2 abs, Babs, cabs, crabs, dabs, grabs, jabs, nabs, scabs, slabs, stabs, * abdabs, prefabs, * dribs and drabs, shish kebabs, minicabs, etc.

1.3 back, black, Black, Braque, clack, claque, crack, flak, hack, jack, Jack, Jacques, knack, lac, lack, mac, Mac, Mach, pack, plaque, quack, rack, sac, sack, shack, slack, smack, snack, stack, tack, thwack, track, vac, wack, whack, WRAC, wrack, yack, yak, Zack, * aback, unpack, macaque, attack, alack, laid-back, repack, Chirac, Dirac, Iraq, * ack-ack, cashback, flashback, splashback, hatchback, backpack, bratpack, ratpack, NASDAQ, lampblack, Shadrach, backtrack, yashmak, knapsack, ransack, Balzac, Anzac, dhansak, flapjack, blackjack, hardback, halfback, hardtack, fast-track, Tarmac®, Carnac, Karnak, bareback, payback, playback, tailback, haystack, hayrack, racetrack, setback, sweptback, shellac, Lurpak®, feedback, greenback, leaseback, Meshach, Taoiseach, cheapjack, kickback, slingback, switchback, ridgeback, six-pack, ticktack, rickrack, gimcrack, knickknack, skipjack, Dyak, kayak, buy-back, tieback, zwieback, wisecrack, sidetrack, hijack, skyjack, softback, Cognac, Cossack, hopsack, Toshack, clawback, drawback, horseback, Dvořák, outback, soundtrack, blowback, throwback, Kodak, smokestack, Slovak, Prozac®, Kojak, humpback, cutback, comeback, hunchback, mudpack, thumbtack, rucksack, muntjac, fullback, woolpack, bushwhack, woolsack, Blu-Tack®, shoeblack, bootblack, sumac, Cusack, Muzak®, * back-to-back, saddleback, Pasternak, Savernake, almanac, Sassenach, Bacharach, Skagerrak, bladderwrack, anorak, haversack, crackerjack, natterjack, applejack, Cadillac, amphibrach, paddywhack, Dannimac®, heart attack, Armagnac, cardiac, paperback, razorback, maniac, leatherback, Kerouac, Bergerac, steeplejack, coeliac, stickleback, in the black, bric-a-brac, hit the sack, iliac, Syriac, piggyback, ipecac, bivouac, Pontiac, Mauriac, quarterback, Kodiak, zodiac, lumberjack, multipack, multitrack, cul-de-sac, Union Jack, Cluniac, * celeriac, amnesiac, insomniac, ammoniac, demoniac, simoniac, * counterattack, yackety-yak, * kleptomaniac, egomaniac, nymphomaniac, dipsomaniac, pyromaniac, monomaniac, necrophiliac, paedophiliac, haemophiliac, sacroiliac, paradisiac, aphrodisiac, Dionysiac, hypochondriac, sal ammoniac, * megalomaniac

Then I saw the Congo, creeping through the black,

Cutting through the forest with a golden track.

VACHEL LINDSAY

1.4 axe, backs, BACS, Bax, cracks, fax, flax, jacks, Jack’s, lacks, lax, max, Max, packs, pax, racks, Sachs, Sacks, sax, shacks, slacks, snacks, stacks, tax, tracks, wax, whacks, * unpacks, attacks, repacks, relax, * hatchbacks, Tampax®, gravlax, backtracks, anthrax, Balzac’s, flapjacks, Fairfax, haystacks, AWACS, Ajax, Pentax, Ex-Lax®, surtax, earwax, meataxe, Ceefax®, beeswax, slingbacks, pickaxe, syntax, hyrax, styrax, kayaks, climax, sidetracks, hijacks, drawbacks, borax, storax, thorax, smokestacks, poleaxe, toadflax, Lomax, * battleaxe, parallax, gravadlax, almanacs, Sassenachs, Halifax, paperbacks, sealing wax, sticklebacks, minimax, Filofax®, overtax, supertax, Union Jacks, * anticlimax, * kleptomaniacs, aphrodisiacs, etc.

1.5 axed, faxed, taxed, waxed, * untaxed, unwaxed, etc.

1.6 act, backed, bract, cracked, fact, hacked, lacked, packed, pact, quacked, smacked, stacked, tact, tracked, tract, whacked, * compact, unpacked, attacked, attract, subtract, contract, jam-packed, abstract, transact, react, prepacked, detract, retract, refract, impact, intact, distract, extract, diffract, enact, exact, entr’acte, protract, * abstract, backtracked, ransacked, play-act, extract, impact, sidetracked, hijacked, compact, contact, contract, gobsmacked, humpbacked, hunchbacked, * cataract, vacuum-packed, artefact, retroact, re-enact, interact, inexact, Pontefract, counteract, overact, underact, subcontract, * counterattacked, matter-of-fact, overreact, etc.

1.7 batch, catch, hatch, latch, match, natch, patch, scratch, snatch, thatch, * attach, unlatch, Brands Hatch, detach, dispatch, mismatch, * Sandbach, rematch, mismatch, eyepatch, crosspatch, crosshatch, nuthatch, * slanging match, purple patch, reattach

1.8 hatched, latched, matched, patched, scratched, snatched, thatched, * attached, unhatched, unlatched, unscratched, unmatched, detached, dispatched, mismatched, * reattached, unattached, * semidetached

1.9 ad, add, bad, bade, brad, Brad, cad, chad, Chad, clad, dad, fad, gad, Gad, glad, grad, had, lad, mad, pad, plaid, rad, sad, SAD, scad, shad, Strad, tad, trad, Vlad, * unclad, Baghdad, Riyadh, egad, begad, jihad, forbad, * scratchpad, grandad, farad, Amstrad, Karlsbad, sketchpad, stepdad, keypad, kneepad, Sinbad, inkpad, dryad, naiad, triad, cycad, Conrad, monad, launch pad, small ad, notepad, snowclad, gonad, nomad, footpad, * Galahad, Stalingrad, barking mad, helipad, Leningrad, Petrograd, Gilead, Iliad, Trinidad, ironclad, hopping mad, Volgograd, * Jalalabad, Islamabad, bromeliad, Olympiad, Upanishad, * Faisalabad, Hyderabad

Ask you what provocation I have had?

The strong antipathy of good to bad.

ALEXANDER POPE

1.10 ads, adds, adze, cads, dad’s, lads, pads, scads, * kneepads, Conrad’s, small ads, nomads, gonads, etc.

1.11 caff, chaff, daff, faff, gaff, gaffe, Graf, graph, naff, RAF, Taff, WAAF, * carafe, Llandaff, Piaf, giraffe, * decaf, riffraff, chiffchaff, digraph, Olaf, * tachograph, barograph, paragraph, shandygaff, shadowgraph, Cenotaph, stenograph, epitaph, epigraph, telegraph, Dictograph®, pictograph, lithograph, spirograph, micrograph, seismograph, Chinagraph®, logograph, holograph, homograph, chronograph, monograph, polygraph, autograph, blow the gaff, photograph, phonograph, * cardiograph, radiograph, ideograph, Mimeograph®, choreograph, * encephalograph

1.12 daffs, graphs, Staffs, WAAFs, * carafes, giraffes, * paragraphs, photographs, etc.

1.13 bag, blag, brag, Bragg, cag, clag, crag, dag, drag, fag, flag, gag, hag, jag, Jag, lag, mag, nag, quag, rag, sag, scrag, shag, slag, snag, spag, stag, swag, tag, wag, * debag, reflag, * ragbag, handbag, sandbag, ratbag, gasbag, ragtag, stalag, air bag, mailbag, sailbag, jet lag, greylag, workbag, fleabag, teabag, feedbag, beanbag, windbag, kitbag, wigwag, chinwag, zigzag, dogtag, Sontag, washrag, Morag, Gro-bag®, postbag, nosebag, toerag, scumbag, punchbag, Gulag, * saddlebag, scallywag, carpetbag, paper bag, Jiffy bag®, Brobdingnag, tucker-bag

The common cormorant (or shag)

Lays eggs inside a paper bag.

CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD

1.14 bags, brags, crags, flags, gags, nags, rags, wags, * handbags, sandbags, air bags, mailbags, teabags, beanbags, * saddlebags, paper bags, moneybags, etc.

1.15 badge, cadge, hajj, Madge, * rebadge

1.16 Al, gal, Hal, mall, pal, Sal, shall, Val, * cabal, Natal, halal, banal, canal, Pascal, Chagall, Pall Mall, La Salle, Chantal, mescal, et al., decal, Vidal, grand mal, low-cal, * caracal, femme fatale, chaparral, falderal, Amytal®, acetal, barbital, Pentothal®, petit mal, Nembutal®, L’Oréal, * Guadalcanal

1.17 calque, talc, * catafalque

1.18 Alf, Ralph

1.19 alp, palp, scalp

1.20 shalt, * Gestalt, * asphalt

1.21 salve, valve, * lip salve, bivalve

1.22 am, cam, Cam, clam, cram, Cram, dam, damn, drachm, dram, gam, glam, gram, ham, jam, jamb, lam, lamb, Lamb, ma’am, ’Nam, Pam, pram, ram, RAM, Sam, scam, scram, sham, slam, spam, Spam®, swam, Tam, tram, wham, yam, * madame, Saddam, Pan-Am, Assam, mesdames, Vietnam, exam, Siam, goddamn, cheongsam, pro-am, * CADCAM, pangram, ashram, webcam, Edam, Etam, flimflam, Islam, wigwam, iamb, Priam, NICAM, quondam, Potsdam, Oxfam, logjam, doorjamb, program, programme, * deprogramme, reprogram, * Amsterdam, mammogram, anagram, traffic jam, aerogram, Abraham, cablegram, Babycham®, hectogram, pentagram, tetragram, hexagram, Steadicam®, epigram, telegram, centigram, give a damn, pictogram, histogram, kilogram, kissagram, dithyramb, milligram, diagram, seismogram, diaphragm, Rotterdam, cofferdam, hologram, monogram, oriflamme, Surinam, Uncle Sam, * gorillagram, oscillogram, ad nauseam, temazepam, diazepam, Omar Khayyám, * angiogram, cardiogram, radiogram, stereogram, ideogram, battering ram, * encephalogram, * parallelogram, in memoriam

I had written to Aunt Maud,

Who was on a trip abroad,

When I heard she’d died of cramp

Just too late to save the stamp.

HARRY GRAHAM

1.23 amp, camp, champ, clamp, cramp, damp, gamp, lamp, ramp, scamp, stamp, tamp, tramp, vamp, * decamp, revamp, encamp, * gas lamp, headlamp, wheel clamp, streetlamp, firedamp, oil lamp, blowlamp, chokedamp, * standard lamp, afterdamp, lava lamp, Davy lamp, postage stamp, rubber-stamp

1.24 an, Ann, Anne, ban, bran, can, Cannes, clan, dan, Dan, fan, flan, Fran, gan, gran, Jan, Jeanne, man, Mann, nan, Nan, pan, Pan, plan, ran, scan, scran, span, Stan, tan, than, van, * Strabane, Japan, rattan, pavane, Oran, Moran, unman, Kazan, Tehran, élan, Cézanne, Leanne, trepan, began, sedan, Sedan, divan, Milan, tisane, Cheyenne, Diane, Roxanne, Joanne, Johann, Lausanne, Roseanne, outran, yuan, Sudan, Bhutan, Suzanne, * kanban, sampan, cancan, Afghan, gratin, kaftan, banyan, ragman, swagman, adman, badman, sandman, Batman, Salman, gasman, axeman, taxman, claypan, brainpan, brain scan, apeman, caveman, mailman, spaceman, bedpan, deadpan, chessman, pressman, merman, birdman, earthman, pecan, free man, he-man, freedman, liegeman, skidpan, wingspan, hit man, binman, Nissan, fireman, cyan, lifespan, ice man, Chopin, stockman, con man, strongman, saltpan, FORTRAN, doorman, lawman, Outspan®, oilcan, Gauguin, Rodin, snowman, Onan, dustpan, suntan, stuntman, newsman, Poussin, * tragopan, astrakhan, Astrakhan, Aberfan, caravan, Callaghan, Hanrahan, Catalan, rataplan, anchorman, Kazakhstan, Marianne, Caliban, Taliban, Pakistan, Dagestan, Acrilan®, gamelan, handyman, Bantustan, man-to-man, marzipan, artisan, partisan, Parmesan, dairyman, stableman, ladies’ man, weatherman, Telemann, self-made man, jerry can, ferryman, Everyman, exciseman, Turkestan, Kyrgyzstan, Kurdistan, serviceman, turbofan, Peter Pan, spick-and-span, middleman, billycan, minivan, businessman, Hindustan, trimaran, Spiderman, Isle of Man, frying pan, lifeboatman, quarryman, gombeen-man, coq au vin, also-ran, slaughterman, courtesan, Moynihan, open-plan, overran, overman, bogeyman, muscleman, Ku Klux Klan, superman, Superman, Houlihan, * extractor fan, Afghanistan, orang-utan, bipartisan, nonpartisan, remainderman, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, committeeman, Baluchistan, * flash in the pan, carry the can, catamaran, cameraman, cavalryman, infantryman, newspaperman, angry young man

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man,

Bake me a cake as fast as you can.

NURSERY RHYME

1.25 ankh, bank, blank, clank, crank, dank, drank, flank, franc, Franck, frank, Frank, hank, Hank, lank, Planck, plank, prank, rank, Rank, sank, shank, shrank, spank, stank, swank, tank, thank, wank, yank, Yank, * embank, outflank, outrank, point-blank, * sandbank, gangplank, redshank, sheepshank, Millbank, think-tank, Clydebank, mudbank, Cruikshank, Ewbank, * antitank, data bank, interbank, riverbank, piggy bank, Girobank, Jodrell Bank, mountebank, Bundesbank

1.26 banks, Banks, blanks, cranks, flanks, francs, Frank’s, Hanks, Lancs, Manx, pranks, ranks, tanks, thanks, Yanks, * sandbanks, phalanx, Fairbanks, * spindleshanks, piggy banks, mountebanks, etc.

1.27 banked, clanked, flanked, ranked, spanked, thanked, yanked, * unfranked, unthanked, outflanked, outranked, * sacrosanct, etc.

1.28 and, band, banned, bland, brand, canned, fanned, gland, grand, hand, land, Land, manned, panned, rand, sand, spanned, stand, strand, Strand, tanned, * unhand, unmanned, unplanned, crash-land, rebrand, disband, expand, withstand, offhand, * hatband, jazz band, bandstand, grandstand, handstand, backhand, Lapland, adland, gangland, armband, chargehand, parkland, heartland, farmland, grassland, waistband, waveband, stagehand, Lakeland, wasteland, neckband, headband, sweatband, headstand, freehand, Queensland, wristband, kickstand, inkstand, inland, quicksand, firebrand, Thailand, Rhineland, watchband, washstand, longhand, dockland, broadband, forehand, shorthand, browband, cowhand, noseband, homeland, own brand, suntanned, clubland, scrubland, newsstand, * behindhand, beforehand, * sarabande, Samarkand, ampersand, Talleyrand, graduand, hand-to-hand, fatherland, Swaziland, fairyland, Maryland, tableland, lend a hand, second-hand, bellyband, Ferdinand, Rio Grande, timberland, hinterland, Kristiansand, Disneyland, Dixieland, Hildebrand, sleight of hand, contraband, borderland, overhand, Oberland, overland, overmanned, no man’s land, Togoland, understand, underhand, wonderland, motherland, one-night stand, Krugerrand, Newfoundland, * Somaliland, Sudetenland, Van Diemen’s Land, Witwatersrand, misunderstand, cloud-cuckoo-land