RHYTHM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rhythm mean? 

• RHYTHM (noun)
  The noun RHYTHM has 5 senses:

1. the basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music

2. recurring at regular intervals

3. an interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs

4. the arrangement of spoken words alternating stressed and unstressed elements

5. natural family planning in which ovulation is assumed to occur 14 days before the onset of a period (the fertile period would be assumed to extend from day 10 through day 18 of her cycle)

  Familiarity information: RHYTHM used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RHYTHM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The basic rhythmic unit in a piece of music

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

beat; musical rhythm; rhythm

Context example:

the conductor set the beat

Hypernyms ("rhythm" is a kind of...):

musical time ((music) the beat of musical rhythm)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rhythm"):

backbeat (a loud steady beat)

downbeat (the first beat of a musical measure (as the conductor's arm moves downward))

offbeat; upbeat (an unaccented beat (especially the last beat of a measure))

syncopation (a musical rhythm accenting a normally weak beat)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Recurring at regular intervals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

regular recurrence; rhythm

Hypernyms ("rhythm" is a kind of...):

cyclicity; periodicity (the quality of recurring at regular intervals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rhythm"):

cardiac rhythm; heart rhythm (the rhythm of a beating heart)

Derivation:

rhythmic; rhythmical (recurring with measured regularity)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An interval during which a recurring sequence of events occurs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

cycle; rhythm; round

Context example:

the never-ending cycle of the seasons

Hypernyms ("rhythm" is a kind of...):

interval; time interval (a definite length of time marked off by two instants)

Meronyms (parts of "rhythm"):

phase; phase angle (a particular point in the time of a cycle; measured from some arbitrary zero and expressed as an angle)

Derivation:

rhythmic (recurring with measured regularity)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The arrangement of spoken words alternating stressed and unstressed elements

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

rhythm; speech rhythm

Context example:

the rhythm of Frost's poetry

Hypernyms ("rhythm" is a kind of...):

guide; template; templet (a model or standard for making comparisons)

inflection; prosody (the patterns of stress and intonation in a language)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Natural family planning in which ovulation is assumed to occur 14 days before the onset of a period (the fertile period would be assumed to extend from day 10 through day 18 of her cycle)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

calendar method; calendar method of birth control; rhythm; rhythm method; rhythm method of birth control

Hypernyms ("rhythm" is a kind of...):

natural family planning (any of several methods of family planning that do not involve sterilization or contraceptive devices or drugs; coitus is avoided during the fertile time of a woman's menstrual cycle)

 Context examples 

Previous studies have shown the rhythm of speech changes the rhythm of neural activity involved in understanding spoken language.

(The Rhythms of Sign Language, NSF)

Treatments include medicines and procedures to restore normal rhythm.

(Atrial Fibrillation, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

QRS complexes during sinus rhythm may show preexcitation.

(Atrioventricular Reentrant Tachycardia by ECG Finding, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

You might be in a hurry, but the universe has its own timetable, and it’s best to wait to be in sync with Mother Nature’s rhythms.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The rhythm disturbance originates above the ventricles.

(Atrial Fibrillation, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

Investigations of day and night rhythms of reef processes are needed to understand the roles of microbes in these ecosystems.

(Bacteria living near coral reefs change in synchrony across distances, National Science Foundation)

An electrocardiographic finding of idioventricular rhythm with a rate greater than 50 beats per minute.

(Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm by ECG Finding, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A drug used to treat certain types of abnormal heart rhythms that have not gotten better with other drugs.

(Amiodarone hydrochloride, NCI Dictionary)

Any variation from the normal rate or rhythm (which may include the origin of the impulse and/or its subsequent propagation) in the heart.

(Arrhythmia, NCI Thesaurus)

Many factors can affect your heart's rhythm, such as having had a heart attack, smoking, congenital heart defects, and stress.

(Arrhythmia, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)