Definition of "anapestic" []

• Of, or relating to, or composed of an anapest. (adjective)
• Of, or relating to, one of the distinct beats in a (human?) heartbeat pattern. (adjective)
• Of, or relating to, a rhythmic pattern used in certain forms of poetry (see also limeric or limerick). (adjective)
• Of, or relating to, certain beats in specific types of drum rhythms, e.g. specific beats within the part played by the "surdo" drum. Surdo literally means "deaf" in Brasilian Portuguese, and the surdo drums play the bass parts in a samba rhythm as performed by a batucada (drumming ensemble) during the Carnaval celebration. (adjective)

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• "Wordsworth, rather, hurries us onward in anapestic strides, imaging successive auditors (the apprentice, the newsman, the lamplighter, et al.), and ending with "pursue!""
• "(e) _The fifth measure_ -- called anapestic measure -- is made up of two short or unemphatic followed by a long or emphatic syllable. '' '"
• "He was working in something we would call anapestic tetrameter, which is also the rhythm of “Twas the night before Christmas.”"