verse
//vɜːs//
Forms
- Plural
- verses
- present (v1)
- verse
- past (v2)
- versed
- past participle (v3)
- versed
- present participle
- versing
- 3rd person singular
- verses
Definitions
1.A poetic form with regular meter and a fixed rhyme scheme.
- Restoration literature is well known for its carefully constructed verse.
2.Poetic form in general.
- The restrictions of verse have steadily been relaxed over time.
3.One of several similar units of a song, consisting of several lines, generally rhymed.
- Note the shift in tone between the first verse and the second.
4.A small section of a holy book (Bible, Quran etc.)
1.to educate about, to teach about.
- He versed us in the finer points of category theory.
2.To oppose, to compete against.(colloquial)
- If you've got Onslaught let me know and I'll verse you.
- There was an ODI last year where the Blackcaps versed Ireland, and we almost lost, but we didn't.
- Ariel is worried for the race, because she is versing her best competitor, and she really wants to win.
3.To tell in verse, or poetry.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4436
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Etymology
From Middle English vers
From a mixture of Old English fers and Old French vers; both from Latin versus (“a line in writing, and in poetry a verse; (originally) row, furrow”)
From vertō (“to turn around”).