rhyming slang

noun

: slang in which the word intended is replaced by a word or phrase that rhymes with it (such as loaf of bread for head) or the first part of the phrase (such as loaf for head)

Examples of rhyming slang in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In the lobby, there’s a 30ft Big Ben sculpture, which comes in the guise of a rocket-ship, restaurant tables are printed with rhyming slang and oversized gold lights, which give a nod to the city’s church bells, hang above the public spaces. —Angelina Villa-Clarke, Forbes, 27 June 2022

This otherwise unassuming East End street is transformed into a swathe of magnificent plant life, the air fragrant with blooms and the shouts of historic London's famous Cockney – that's English rhyming slang – stallholders. —Ramsay Short, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Mar. 2018

That’s because much of the novel is written using Nadsat, a dystopian teenage subculture language fusing British rhyming slang and Russian that Burgess created for the book. —Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 7 June 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1859, in the meaning defined above