double dactyl

See also: double-dactyl

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Coined by poets Anthony Hecht and Paul Pascal; compound of double +‎ dactyl.

Noun

double dactyl (plural double dactyls)

  1. A short, usually humorous poem with eight lines in dactylic meter; a higgledy-piggledy.
    • 1980, Gyles Brandreth, The Joy of Lex, page 123:
      Higgledy-piggledies are more sophisticated than clerihews: they comprise double dactyls and rhymes and aren't always biographical.

Synonyms
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