noun
or an·a·paest ˈanəˌpest, esp Brit -ēst
( -s )
Etymology: Latin anapaestus, from Greek anapaistos, literally, struck back (a dactyl reversed), from (assumed) anapaiein to strike back (whence Late Greek anapaiein ), from ana- + paiein to strike
1. : a metrical foot of three syllables the first two being unstressed and the last being stressed (as in Lord Byron's “and his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold”) or the first two being short and the last being long (as in classical prosody) : a trisyllabic rising cadence — symbol ˘˘- or ooó — compare dactyl
2. : a verse written in anapests