anapest Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a metrical unit with unstressed-unstressed-stressed syllables
    anapaest.

WordNet

An"a*pest noun
Etymology
L. anapaestus, Gr. an anapest, i.e., a dactyl reserved, or, as it were, struck back; fr. back + to strike.
Definitions
  1. (Pros.) A metrical foot consisting of three syllables, the first two short, or unaccented, the last long, or accented (#); the reverse of the dactyl. In Latin d--tas, and in English in-ter-vene, are examples of anapests.
  2. A verse composed of such feet.

Webster 1913