Rosalind Fergusson - Collins Rhyming Dictionary

Words that have more than one sound appear in more than one group. For example, graph can rhyme with naff or half , so both group numbers are given in the index. Similarly, sow rhymes with cow when it means ‘female pig’ and with go when it means ‘put seed in ground’.

If your word is not in the index, does it have an extra ending, such as the -s of stamps or the -ed of dragged ? If so, remove the ending and look for the main form of the word (i.e. stamp or drag ). You may be able to add the same ending to other words in its group (e.g. cramps/lamps/tramps or bragged/lagged/sagged ). Many words with these endings have groups of their own, often with ‘etc.’ at the end, which means that more rhymes can be made by adding the same ending to other words. For example, group 1.4 contains some of the most common -acks words that rhyme with axe , but there is not room to include them all – you can make many more by adding -s to the other ack words in group 1.3.

If you still cannot find a suitable rhyme for your word, you may find a near-rhyme in another group. Words ending in the ‘f ’ sound, for example, are sometimes rhymed with words ending in the ‘v’ or ‘th’ sound (e.g. leaf/weave/teeth/breathe ). Other letter sounds that can be paired in this way are ‘b’ and ‘p’ ( crab/tap ), ‘k’ and ‘g’ ( rack/stag ), ‘d’ and ‘t’ ( bed/set ), ‘m’ and ‘n’ ( rim/thin ), ‘s’ and ‘z’ ( miss/fizz ), and ‘sh’ and ‘ch’ ( squash/watch ).

Finally, here is a list of words that have no rhyme:

bilge

cusp

damask

depth

eighth

else

gouge

month

ninth

period

scarce

sixth

warmth

wasp

Welsh

width

The rhymes in this section have the ‘a’ sound of mat and happy as their main or final vowel sound .

1.1blab, cab, crab, Crabbe, dab, drab, fab, flab, gab, grab, jab, lab, Mab, nab, scab, slab, stab, tab, * McNab, Cantab., kebab, vocab, * Ahab, spacelab, prefab, rehab, Skylab, confab, Joab, Moab, * smash-and-grab, hackney cab, taxicab, shish kebab, minicab, baobab

Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer had a very unusual gift of the gab,

They were highly efficient cat-burglars as well, and remarkably smart at a smash-and-grab.

T. S. ELIOT

1.2abs, Babs, cabs, crabs, dabs, grabs, jabs, nabs, scabs, slabs, stabs, * abdabs, prefabs, * dribs and drabs, shish kebabs, minicabs, etc.

1.3back, black, Black, Braque, clack, claque, crack, flak, hack, jack, Jack, Jacques, knack, lac, lack, mac, Mac, Mach, pack, plaque, quack, rack, sac, sack, shack, slack, smack, snack, stack, tack, thwack, track, vac, wack, whack, WRAC, wrack, yack, yak, Zack, * aback, unpack, macaque, attack, alack, laid-back, repack, Chirac, Dirac, Iraq, * ack-ack, cashback, flashback, splashback, hatchback, backpack, bratpack, ratpack, NASDAQ, lampblack, Shadrach, backtrack, yashmak, knapsack, ransack, Balzac, Anzac, dhansak, flapjack, blackjack, hardback, halfback, hardtack, fast-track, Tarmac®, Carnac, Karnak, bareback, payback, playback, tailback, haystack, hayrack, racetrack, setback, sweptback, shellac, Lurpak®, feedback, greenback, leaseback, Meshach, Taoiseach, cheapjack, kickback, slingback, switchback, ridgeback, six-pack, ticktack, rickrack, gimcrack, knickknack, skipjack, Dyak, kayak, buy-back, tieback, zwieback, wisecrack, sidetrack, hijack, skyjack, softback, Cognac, Cossack, hopsack, Toshack, clawback, drawback, horseback, Dvořák, outback, soundtrack, blowback, throwback, Kodak, smokestack, Slovak, Prozac®, Kojak, humpback, cutback, comeback, hunchback, mudpack, thumbtack, rucksack, muntjac, fullback, woolpack, bushwhack, woolsack, Blu-Tack®, shoeblack, bootblack, sumac, Cusack, Muzak®, * back-to-back, saddleback, Pasternak, Savernake, almanac, Sassenach, Bacharach, Skagerrak, bladderwrack, anorak, haversack, crackerjack, natterjack, applejack, Cadillac, amphibrach, paddywhack, Dannimac®, heart attack, Armagnac, cardiac, paperback, razorback, maniac, leatherback, Kerouac, Bergerac, steeplejack, coeliac, stickleback, in the black, bric-a-brac, hit the sack, iliac, Syriac, piggyback, ipecac, bivouac, Pontiac, Mauriac, quarterback, Kodiak, zodiac, lumberjack, multipack, multitrack, cul-de-sac, Union Jack, Cluniac, * celeriac, amnesiac, insomniac, ammoniac, demoniac, simoniac, * counterattack, yackety-yak, * kleptomaniac, egomaniac, nymphomaniac, dipsomaniac, pyromaniac, monomaniac, necrophiliac, paedophiliac, haemophiliac, sacroiliac, paradisiac, aphrodisiac, Dionysiac, hypochondriac, sal ammoniac, * megalomaniac

Then I saw the Congo, creeping through the black,

Cutting through the forest with a golden track.

VACHEL LINDSAY

1.4axe, backs, BACS, Bax, cracks, fax, flax, jacks, Jack’s, lacks, lax, max, Max, packs, pax, racks, Sachs, Sacks, sax, shacks, slacks, snacks, stacks, tax, tracks, wax, whacks, * unpacks, attacks, repacks, relax, * hatchbacks, Tampax®, gravlax, backtracks, anthrax, Balzac’s, flapjacks, Fairfax, haystacks, AWACS, Ajax, Pentax, Ex-Lax®, surtax, earwax, meataxe, Ceefax®, beeswax, slingbacks, pickaxe, syntax, hyrax, styrax, kayaks, climax, sidetracks, hijacks, drawbacks, borax, storax, thorax, smokestacks, poleaxe, toadflax, Lomax, * battleaxe, parallax, gravadlax, almanacs, Sassenachs, Halifax, paperbacks, sealing wax, sticklebacks, minimax, Filofax®, overtax, supertax, Union Jacks, * anticlimax, * kleptomaniacs, aphrodisiacs, etc.

1.5axed, faxed, taxed, waxed, * untaxed, unwaxed, etc.

1.6act, backed, bract, cracked, fact, hacked, lacked, packed, pact, quacked, smacked, stacked, tact, tracked, tract, whacked, * compact, unpacked, attacked, attract, subtract, contract, jam-packed, abstract, transact, react, prepacked, detract, retract, refract, impact, intact, distract, extract, diffract, enact, exact, entr’acte, protract, * abstract, backtracked, ransacked, play-act, extract, impact, sidetracked, hijacked, compact, contact, contract, gobsmacked, humpbacked, hunchbacked, * cataract, vacuum-packed, artefact, retroact, re-enact, interact, inexact, Pontefract, counteract, overact, underact, subcontract, * counterattacked, matter-of-fact, overreact, etc.

1.7batch, catch, hatch, latch, match, natch, patch, scratch, snatch, thatch, * attach, unlatch, Brands Hatch, detach, dispatch, mismatch, * Sandbach, rematch, mismatch, eyepatch, crosspatch, crosshatch, nuthatch, * slanging match, purple patch, reattach

1.8hatched, latched, matched, patched, scratched, snatched, thatched, * attached, unhatched, unlatched, unscratched, unmatched, detached, dispatched, mismatched, * reattached, unattached, * semidetached

1.9ad, add, bad, bade, brad, Brad, cad, chad, Chad, clad, dad, fad, gad, Gad, glad, grad, had, lad, mad, pad, plaid, rad, sad, SAD, scad, shad, Strad, tad, trad, Vlad, * unclad, Baghdad, Riyadh, egad, begad, jihad, forbad, * scratchpad, grandad, farad, Amstrad, Karlsbad, sketchpad, stepdad, keypad, kneepad, Sinbad, inkpad, dryad, naiad, triad, cycad, Conrad, monad, launch pad, small ad, notepad, snowclad, gonad, nomad, footpad, * Galahad, Stalingrad, barking mad, helipad, Leningrad, Petrograd, Gilead, Iliad , Trinidad, ironclad, hopping mad, Volgograd, * Jalalabad, Islamabad, bromeliad, Olympiad, Upanishad, * Faisalabad, Hyderabad

Ask you what provocation I have had?

The strong antipathy of good to bad.