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poulter's measure

American  
[pohl-terz] / ˈpoʊl tərz /

noun

Prosody.

  1. a metrical pattern using couplets having the first line in iambic hexameter, or 12 syllables, and the second in iambic heptameter, or 14 syllables.

Etymology

Origin of poulter's measure

1570–80; so called because poulters ( poulterer ) used to give extra eggs when counting by the dozen

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.