All words

epanalepsis

Meaning

A figure of speech where a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning and end of a clause, sentence, or passage.

Examples by difficulty

Basic: Simple, everyday vocabulary — the easiest to read.

He just kept saying it, over and over. "I will not go," he whispered. "I will not go." That stubborn epanalepsis, the same words bookending his refusal, showed how dead set he was on staying put.

The silence grew, a deep, heavy silence. No one dared speak, no one dared move. This awful silence, it hung over them all like a shroud.

The old mechanic tightened the bolt. Tightened the bolt, he did. He always said this was the first step, the last step, the whole point of the job. He just kept tightening the bolt.

My dog's obsession with his squeaky toy is truly something. He'll bark, bark, bark at that toy, hoping for a game. Yes, he'll bark, bark, bark, never tiring, always wanting more squeaks.

Barnaby the badger loved his rubber chicken, oh how he loved his rubber chicken! He’d squeak it, he’d toss it, he’d even try to feed it his favorite grubs, but Barnaby the badger loved his rubber chicken. It was a magnificent, honking, yellow friend.

Normal: Standard, everyday language.

"I told him to stop," I said, my voice shaking, "and he didn't stop." That feeling, that desperate repetition, the way I kept saying "stop" because he wouldn't listen, that's like a rhetorical device where you say something at the start and then again at the end of your thought.

The old lighthouse keeper insisted, "Guard the beam. Guard the beam!" His voice cracked with the weight of decades. He'd seen storms, ships lost. That repetition, that epanalepsis, hammered home the importance of his vigil.

The old mechanic tightened the bolt. He knew this part. This part was the key. He had to get it right, and this part, this part was the key to everything. The epanalepsis in his muttered words showed his focus, his desperate need for this single, critical step to be correct.

Barry the baker, renowned for his epic epanalepsis in conversation, would always start and end his rambling stories with the same phrase: "And that's the whole darn enchilada, the whole darn enchilada!" It was less storytelling, more linguistic déjà vu, and utterly hilarious.

The sentient toenail fungus, Bartholomew, demanded, "More cheese, I want more cheese!" Bartholomew, a creature of exquisite, albeit questionable, taste, declared, "More cheese, I want more cheese!" His constant, cheesy refrain was the very definition of epanalepsis, a linguistic loop only a moldy appendage could appreciate.

Advanced: Richer vocabulary that stretches an upper-level reader.

"We must remember this day," the veteran declared, his voice firm, "We must remember this day." The chilling epanalepsis hung in the air, a stark reminder of the sacrifice, a solemn echo emphasizing the crucial lesson for all those present.

The judge’s pronouncement hung heavy, a sentence that demanded attention. Justice, he declared, must be blind; justice, he reiterated, must be blind to all prejudice. This deliberate echo, this repetition at the start and end, underscored the gravity of the mandate.

The surveyor frowned, tracing the ancient boundary. "This is the land, this is the land," he muttered, the phrase echoing the finality of his measurement. He felt the weight of generations, the unending dispute, a familiar epanalepsis of history etched into the soil itself.

The comedian’s act was pure epanalepsis, he’d start with a ridiculous premise, “So, I was at the grocery store…” and then proceed to meander through a bizarre narrative, only to conclude with the exact same phrase, “…at the grocery store.” It was maddeningly, hilariously repetitive, a linguistic pretzel twisting the audience into giggles.

He was lost, lost in the endless woods. This frustrating epanalepsis, the mirroring of his panicked state at the start and end of every thought, left him reeling. He just wanted to be found.

Challenging: Rare, high-register vocabulary for serious word lovers.

He clung to the old ways, the familiar phrases. It was always the same words, the same sentiment, a tenacious epanalepsis that provided solace. He found comfort in that repetition, that echo of beginning and end, a bulwark against the unfamiliar.

He knew, with a sickening certainty, that he had made a grave error. The counsel's pronouncement echoed in his mind, the same dire warning repeated, a relentless epanalepsis. He had ignored the signs, and now the consequence was irrefutable, a chilling epanalepsis of his own folly.

The old cartographer, his hands gnarled, stared at the crude map, a testament to his life's work. He'd searched for it, he'd searched for it, and now, finally, it was there, a red X marking the spot.

The craftsman lamented, "Such intricate work, such intricate work." He held up the shattered automaton, its delicate gears rendered inert. He yearned for the precision, the meticulous assembly, the very essence of its creation, now irrevocably lost.

The captain, his voice rough with exhaustion, reiterated his plea: "Hold the line, men. For the sake of our families, hold the line." This epanalepsis, the stark repetition at the clause's start and end, underscored their desperate, singular purpose.

Difficulty

Challenging — Rare, high-register words for serious word lovers.

Appears in

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