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rhythmless

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rhythm

[rith-uhm]
–noun
1. movement or procedure with uniform or patterned recurrence of a beat, accent, or the like.
2. Music.
a. the pattern of regular or irregular pulses caused in music by the occurrence of strong and weak melodic and harmonic beats.
b. a particular form of this: duple rhythm; triple rhythm.
3. measured movement, as in dancing.
4. Art, Literature. a patterned repetition of a motif, formal element, etc., at regular or irregular intervals in the same or a modified form.
5. the effect produced in a play, film, novel, etc., by the combination or arrangement of formal elements, as length of scenes, speech and description, timing, or recurrent themes, to create movement, tension, and emotional value in the development of the plot.
6. Prosody.
a. metrical or rhythmical form; meter.
b. a particular kind of metrical form.
c. metrical movement.
7. the pattern of recurrent strong and weak accents, vocalization and silence, and the distribution and combination of these elements in speech.
8. Physiology. the regular recurrence of an action or function, as of the beat of the heart, or the menstrual cycle.
9. procedure marked by the regular recurrence of particular elements, phases, etc.: the rhythm of the seasons.
10. regular recurrence of elements in a system of motion.

Origin:
1550–60; < L rhythmus < Gk rhythmós; cf. rheîn to flow


rhythmless, adjective


9. flow, pulse, cadence.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Cultural Dictionary

rhythm

The “beat” of music; the regular pattern of long and short notes. Certain kinds of music, such as blues or marches, have a very characteristic rhythm. Rhythm, harmony, and melody are elements of music.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

rhythm 
c.1557, from L. rhythmus "movement in time," from Gk. rhythmos "measured flow or movement, rhythm," related to rhein "to flow," from PIE base *sreu- "to flow" (see rheum). In M.L., rithmus was used for accentual, as opposed to quantitative, verse, and accentual verse was usually rhymed. Rhythm method of birth control attested from 1940. Rhythm and blues, U.S. music style, is from 1949.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: rhythm
Pronunciation: 'rith-&m
Function: noun
1 : a regularly recurrent quantitative change in a variable biological process:as a : the pattern of recurrence of the cardiac cycle rhythm> b : the recurring pattern of physical and functional changes associated withthe mammalian and especially human sexual cycle
2 : RHYTHM METHOD
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

rhythm (rĭ&phonth;'əm)
n.
Movement or variation characterized by the regular recurrence or alternation of different quantities or conditions, as in the heartbeat.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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