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a foot of three syllables, two short followed by one long in quant-tative meter, and two unstressed followed by one stressed in accentual meter, as in for the nonce.
historical examples

in like manner we have anapestic lines of all lengths from monometer to hexameter.
elementary guide to literary criticism f. v. n. painter

technically the poem is anapestic tetrameter much varied by the introduction of iambic feet.
journeys through bookland, vol. 10 charles herbert sylvester

anapestic feet are used freely to improve the music; in fact, they are nearly as numerous as the iambic feet.
journeys through bookland, vol. 10 charles herbert sylvester

here we have a hexameter which is neither iambic nor anapestic, but a combination of the two rhythms.
english verse raymond macdonald alden, ph.d.

there is evident a tendency toward the rising verse and the anapestic foot.
the translations of beowulf chauncey brewster tinker

virgilius mars wrote in hexameters; horatius flaccus in alcaic, sapphic, and anapestic verse.
the green book mr jkai

again we find, especially in dactyllic and anapestic lines, a trochee or spondee thrown in to vary the movement.
rhymes and meters horatio winslow

anapestic verse consists of a regular recurrence of two unstressed syllables preceding a stressed syllable, — — /.
legends, tales and poems gustavo adolfo becquer

a poetic foot of three syllables which bears the accent on the third syllable is called an anapestic foot.
journeys through bookland, vol. 7 charles h. sylvester

often it seems to an english reader to have an anapestic effect, and to be best described as anapestic tetrameter.
english verse raymond macdonald alden, ph.d.

adj.

1690s, from latin anapaesticus, from greek anapaistikos, from anapaistos (see anapest).
n.

also anapaest, “two short syllables followed by a long one,” 1670s, from latin anapestus, from greek anapaistos “struck back, rebounding,” verbal adjective from anapaiein “to strike back,” from ana- “back” (see ana-) + paiein “to strike,” from pie -pau- “to cut, strike, stamp” (see pave). so called because it reverses the dactyl.