lim⋅er⋅ick
[lim-er-ik] 
| a kind of humorous verse of five lines, in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other, and the third and fourth lines, which are shorter, form a rhymed couplet. |
1895–1900; after Limerick; allegedly from social gatherings where the group sang “Will you come up to Limerick?” after each set of verses, extemporized in turn by the members of the party
Lim⋅er⋅ick
[lim-er-ik] | 1. | a county in N Munster, in the SW Republic of Ireland. 100,865; 1037 sq. mi. (2686 sq. km). |
| 2. | its county seat: a seaport at the head of the Shannon estuary. 60,721. |
| 3. | Angling. a fishhook having a sharp bend below the barb. |
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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| lim·er·ick (lĭm'ər-ĭk) n. A light humorous, nonsensical, or bawdy verse of five anapestic lines usually with the rhyme scheme aabba. [After Limerick.] |
| Lim·er·ick (lĭm'ər-ĭk, lĭm'rĭk) A borough of southwest Ireland on the Shannon River estuary. It was an important Norse settlement in the 9th and 10th centuries and was taken by the English in the late 12th century. The city is noted for its fine lace. Population: 52,500. |
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Limerick
Lim"er*ick\, n. [Said to be from a song with the same verse construction, current in Ireland, the refrain of which contains the place name Limerick.] A nonsense poem of five anapestic lines, of which lines 1, 2, and 5 are of there feet, and rime, and lines 3 and 4 are of two feet, and rime; as There was a young lady, Amanda, Whose Ballades Lyriques were quite fin de Si[`e]cle, I deem But her Journal Intime Was what sent her papa to Uganda.Cite This Source
limerick
A form of humorous five-line verse, such as:
There once was a young man from Kew
Who found a dead mouse in his stew.
Said the waiter, “Don't shout
Or wave it about,
Or the rest will be wanting one too!”
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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limerick
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Limerick
county, southwestern Ireland, in the province of Munster. Its northern boundary, with County Clare, is the River Shannon and its estuary. The River Maigue bisects the county and flows north into the Shannon. On the west the boundary with County Kerry runs through plateaus 1,000-2,000 feet high (300-600 metres). On the east the boundary with Tipperary runs from the Shannon to Slievefelim (1,524 feet [465 metres]), then across the Golden Vale southward to the Galtee mountains to the summit of Galtymore (3,018 feet [920 metres]). The southern boundary, with Cork, follows the Ballyhoura Hills, a continuation of the line of the Galtees. Lowland Limerick is mainly a rolling landscape with a variety of glacial drifts diversified by hills, including a number of isolated volcanic hills. The peat bog that formerly covered parts of the lowland has been largely removed, and pastoral farming dominates. The farms are about 50-80 acres (20-32 hectares) in size. There are remains of round towers at Ardpatrick and Dysert, of prehistoric monuments at Lough Gur, and of numerous monasteries in the city of Limerick and elsewhere.
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