Meaning & use
verse
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Meanings
noununcountableliterary
Writing that uses rhythm and often rhyme, arranged in lines, as opposed to ordinary prose.
Grammar: Used without an article: she writes verse.
Patterns
- in verse
- write verse
The story was told in verse.
He wrote light verse for children.
Her talent for verse started at school.
nouncountablemusic
A group of lines that forms one section of a poem or song.
Grammar: Usually counted: the second verse.
Patterns
- a verse of something
The singer forgot the words to the second verse.
Each verse of the hymn ends with the same line.
We sang the first verse together.
nouncountablereligion
A numbered sentence or short passage in the Bible or another sacred text.
Grammar: Often followed by a number: John 3, verse 16.
Patterns
- a verse from something
She read a verse from Psalms.
The pastor explained the meaning of the verse.
He memorized a verse every week.
Word forms
| plural | verses |
|---|
Common combinations
- in verse
- The play is written in verse.
- blank verse
- Shakespeare often used blank verse.
- free verse
- Her poems are in free verse, with no rhyme.
- light verse
- He wrote light verse for newspapers.
- chapter and verse
- He quoted the rule chapter and verse.
Synonyms and how they differ
- poetry
- Poetry is the art as a whole, while verse often just means the lines in a metrical form.
- stanza
- A stanza is a formal group of lines in a poem, while verse can be looser.
- rhyme
- Rhyme refers to matching sounds or a short rhyming poem, while verse refers to the whole form.
- poem
- A poem is a complete work, while verse can be a part of it.
Opposites
Word family
- versify verb
- to turn into verse
- versification noun
- the art of writing verse
- versed adjective
- skilled in a subject
- versus preposition
- against, from a different Latin root
Commonly confused: verse or versus? verse or stanza?
verse vs versus
Versus means against and is often shortened to vs; it is not related to poetry.
verse vs stanza
A stanza is a unit of a poem, while verse can refer to poetry in general.
Practice
The song has three ____, and each one ends with the same chorus.
Choose one answer.
Verses are sections of a song or poem. Versus means against, vertices are corners and visors are parts of a cap.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “verse”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.