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Acrostic   Listen
noun
Acrostic  n.  
1.
A composition, usually in verse, in which the first or the last letters of the lines, or certain other letters, taken in order, form a name, word, phrase, or motto.
2.
A Hebrew poem in which the lines or stanzas begin with the letters of the alphabet in regular order (as Psalm cxix.). See Abecedarian.
Double acrostic, a species of enigma, in which words are to be guessed whose initial and final letters form other words.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Acrostic" Quotes from Famous Books



... fire]; only, however, where it is permitted by the context.] The Rectification of the subject (man) taken up by the Art, is achieved through the purification of the earthly elements according to the indication of the alchemists who call the beginning of the work "Vitriol," and form an acrostic from the initial letters of this word: "Visita Interiora Terrae, Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem" [ Visit the interior of the earth; by purifying you will find the hidden stone]. Half way up there floats the [Symbol: mercury] that has the value of a "union symbol" in the brotherhoods ...
— Hidden Symbolism of Alchemy and the Occult Arts • Herbert Silberer

... what?" I asked. He had a curious habit, had Henry, of commenting aloud upon his own unspoken thoughts, thereby bestowing upon his conversation much of the quality of the double acrostic. We had been discussing the question whether sardines served their purpose better as a hors d'oeuvre or as a savoury; and I found myself wondering for the moment why sardines, above all other fish, should be of an unbelieving nature; while endeavouring to picture to myself the costume ...
— The Observations of Henry • Jerome K. Jerome

... will be dead in an hour," he said, "the fact of your being a dyspeptic need not trouble you any more than if you were an acrostic. Let me therefore suggest that you try a sausage or a knuckle ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, October 14, 1914 • Various

... that the whole thing was extraordinarily queer, and that there must be some explanation of it; but Murray, after being quiet for a minute, began to fidget like a man who has been puzzling over an acrostic, and is beginning to discover what it is all about. My people used to do acrostics, and, when they were completely defeated, I did not mind being in the same room with them; but, as soon as they got some clue, my father fairly ramped around seeking books which he could not find, or asking ...
— Godfrey Marten, Undergraduate • Charles Turley

... acrostic will be interesting, because it was printed in gold letters on a beautiful silk cover, which enclosed the Pictorial Bible which was presented by the ladies of Swinton to ...
— Grace Darling - Heroine of the Farne Islands • Eva Hope

... of Latin and Anglo-Saxon literature allured him still further. They included the whole series of riddles by Adhelme, Tatwine and Eusebius, who were descendants of Symphosius, and especially the enigmas composed by Saint Boniface, in acrostic strophes whose solution could be found in the initial letters of ...
— Against The Grain • Joris-Karl Huysmans

... of his vigilance, to have several Conversations with the daughter, as I cheapened articles in the shop. I made terrible long bargains, and examined the articles over and over, before I purchased. In the meantime, I would convey a sonnet or an acrostic under cover of a piece of cambric, or slipped into a pair of stockings; I would whisper soft nonsense into her ear as I haggled about the price; and would squeeze her hand tenderly as I received my halfpence ...
— Tales of a Traveller • Washington Irving



Words linked to "Acrostic" :   puzzle, puzzler, literary work, literary composition, teaser, word square, mystifier



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