Poetry Terms
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Onomatopoeia
What is Onomatopoeia?
Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound or suggests the source of the sound that it describes. It is commonly used in comic strips as action sounds and in nursery rhymes.
Examples of using Onomatopoeia:
Buzz - for a bee
Hiss - for a snake
Moo - for a cow
Woof - for a dog
Pow - for a punch
Whoosh - for a rocket taking off
Tick-tock - for a clock
In a poem or nursery rhyme they are used to entertain:
Old MacDonald had a farm,
Ee i ee i oh!
And on that farm he had some chickens,
Ee i ee i oh!
With a cluck-cluck here,
And a cluck-cluck there
Here a cluck, there a cluck,
Everywhere a cluck-cluck
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee i ee i oh!
Onomatopoeia is used to help the reader hear and be involved in the writer's written word, by describing the action with a sound.
Why don't you try writing a poem using Onomatopoeia and enter it into one of our Poetry Competitions.