[AV Posts: 35 Status: Offline]

Can anyone recommend a good rhyming dictionary? I've been using The Writer's Rhyming Dictionary by Langford Reed. It's not bad, but I'm curious to know if there are better ones, or more comprehensive ones. This one has 25,000 entires. I did a search on these boards and found one that Verla recommended: Random House Rhyming Dictionary. Anybody have any other suggestions?

Andrea

[rjschechter Posts: 93 Status: Offline WWW]

I think http://rhymezone.com is pretty good.

[AV Posts: 35 Status: Offline]

rjshechter -- I checked it out. It's pretty good! I'll be using it.
Thanks for your help...

Andrea

[tandemom06]

Here's another on-line resource: http://www.rhymer.com/

[AV Posts: 35 Status: Offline]

Thanks, tandemom06 -- I've bookmarked it.

I was thinking more of books instead of online sources because I'm not always at my desktop when I write. But I think the online sources are a great addition, and both of these will come in handy.

Andrea

[Kelly Posts: 57 Status: Offline WWW]

I find that the Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary works well.  I bought it at a Scholastic Book Fair at my kids' school.  I have another one that is bigger, but more confusing to use.

[rjschechter Posts: 93 Status: Offline WWW]

A quick comparison of rhymer.com and rhymezone.com convinces me that rhymezone is better.  I typed "hands" into rhymer and I was given a list of words that included many non-rhymes, like "headstands" and other trochaic two-syllable words that do not have a stress on the syllable that needs to rhyme.  And more seriously, rhymezone omitted words without the "d," such as "fans" and "cans," which are, in fact, perfect rhymes for "hands."  I also like the format of rhymezone better.  I have, on occasion, thought of rhymes on my own that were missing from rhymezone, but that will be true of any rhyming dictionary. 

I always write at my computer, so I don't need to use an actual book.  I think it would be too cumbersome to use a book anyway, since I like to glimpse at the rhyme choices every now and then as a sort of reminder, but I dont want to leave my draft behind as I go off paging through a book where I may get distracted.

[LDeg]

Another good thing about rhymezone is you can search for synonyms and get definitions.  When I absolutely can't find a usable rhyme for a word, I search for synonyms and often find other words that will work.  I write on my computer too so I use it all the time.

Lori

[Adrian]

I'm going to echo what Bob said with respect to rhymezone. It's a great tool, but I would caution people from assuming that it's showing you all the possible rhymes. I use it myself, but find that it pretty consistently misses one or two good options.

[Jille Posts: 27 Status: Offline WWW]

Book-wise, I love my little Webster's Compact Rhyming Dictionary. Hasn't failed me yet.   

[AV Posts: 35 Status: Offline]

This is great. I've seen the Scholastic -- it's a nice addition to what I have. I'm going to check out the Random House and the Webster's Rhyming Dictionary next time I'm at Borders.

Thanks all, for your suggestions and insights! Much appreciated...

Andrea

[smichel]

I use Rhymezone as well as The Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary. The Scholastic book often has words I hadn't thought of.

Stella

[KDBrazil Posts: 645 Status: Offline WWW]

I have The New Comprehensive American Rhyming Dictionary compiled by Sue Young, published by Quill. I find that between it and rhymezone.com, I'm pretty much set.

[KimberlyH]

My favorite is Words to Rhyme With by William R. Espy.

[lynnwrites]

Yes,

RHYMING DICTIONARY (15, 000 WORDS) SUE YOUNG - SCHOLASTIC

This is a great addition to the links!

Cheers,

Lynn

[wolfie712 Posts: 236 Status: Offline Teacher, Writer, Up-All-Nighter WWW]

I've always used http://rhyme.poetry.com/ when sitting at my computer.  When I'm away from my computer, I rely on my Merriam-Webster's Rhyming Dictionary.  It has 55,000 words, and it's very comprehensive.

Laura

[Bill Posts: 134 Status: Offline]

I'm on this a bit late.  I also find that Rhymezone misses words, though I do use it because it's easy.  Like KDBrazil, I like The New comprehinsive American Rhyming Dictionary by Sue Young.  On the cover it states "65,000 Entries."  The publishing date is 1991 so it's not that new;)

Bill

[DianaM Posts: 969 Status: Offline Writer, rhymer, runner, punner. WWW]

I always use rhymezone but there have been one or two instances when I noticed a legitimate rhyme wasn't listed.

[mnoeth]

A thank you to all for the great recommendations!

  Melissa

[eecoburn Posts: 202 Status: Offline]

I love my Oxford Rhyming Dictionary by Oxford University Press.  The way it is arranged, you can see near rhymes, as well.

[rjschechter Posts: 93 Status: Offline WWW]

Of course rhymezone misses rhymes.  A bigger problem is that it sometimes includes "rhymes" that don't really rhyme, so you have to be careful not to use it unless you agree that it rhymes.  You can't just blindly (deafly?) go along.  I think all these dictionaries are just a spur to your own imagination, something to get you going and thinking and writing.  They are not authoritative references, they are only spurs and prompts. 

The biggest category of rhymes they tend to miss are rhymes that happen on the secondary stress of a word that is three or more syllables long.  For example, if you want to rhyme on "bad," most of these dictionaries probably wouldn't have a word like "Olympiad" because the primary stress is on "LYM" and the rhyming dictionaries don't indicate syllables that can be promoted into a beat you can rhyme on (E.g., "I wanted, and I wanted bad,/ to be in the Olympiad").  Or see/eternity.  There are countless other examples that could be given. 

[MaudeStephany]

I have a copy of the Complete Rhyming Dictionary edited by Clement Wood and published by Dell/Laurel .... and while I don't do a lot of rhyming, it does come in handy when I am occasionally trying to turn a phrase.

However, I do find that some of the things they say rhyme do not, in my dialect, come close to rhyming and vice-versa. Mouse and house rhyme where I am, and yet I am often told that they do not rhyme in the rhyming dictionaries. So for me, the dictionary is just a starting point rather than a "Bible" of rhyme, and if an editor/agent ever calls me on that, well, I'll deal with it then.

Maude 

[B.J. Lee]

Thank you all for your comments on the rhyming dictionaries! I personally use rhymezone exclusively but am looking for a book as well. You've all given me a lot of choices to look at. Thanks.

[rjschechter Posts: 93 Status: Offline WWW]

You really have rhyming dictionaries that say mouse/house isn't a rhyme?

This is perhaps the most overused rhyme in children's poetry.  Whenever I see a mouse at the end of a line, I know as surely as night follows day that there's a house around the bend, though someday, I suppose, I'll be surprised to encounter a louse instead.

Maybe you have a rhyming dictionary that has a separate listing for "house" as a verb?  If that's the case, it wouldn't be a perfect rhyme with mouse since it's said "howz" when it's a verb.

[DianaM Posts: 969 Status: Offline Writer, rhymer, runner, punner. WWW]

someday, I suppose, I'll be surprised to encounter a louse instead.

:D LOL! Or maybe the mouse's angry spouse?

I too was surprised when I read that, Maude. I thought perhaps it was a Canadian thing (? :D) but maybe it's a verb thing -- that makes more sense than anything I could think of.  Surely "mouse" and "house" rhyme as much as "cat" and "hat".

In any case, it's good to know that you can't trust your dictionary blindly.