A word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backward as forward, e.g., madam or nurses run.
‘The word is a palindrome, reading the same backwards and forwards - or, to put it more cynically, making little sense whichever way up you hold it.’
‘I hope so, for I have such high hopes for this new year, one that reads the same backwards as forwards - a calendar palindrome.’
‘Another good word game is to find a phrase that is a palindrome.’
‘It's not just the lyrics that are palindromes, but the music is the same backwards as it is forwards as well.’
‘A kayak - pointed at both ends - could be a palindrome of a vessel, in both shape and word, except that you can't paddle it backwards as happily as you can spell it so.’
‘Often the palindromes are imperfect and interrupted by short sequence elements.’
‘The structure of the palindrome was confirmed by extensive restriction mapping and sequencing.’
‘I was thinking about palindromes today as well, but for the rather more mundane reason that they feature in a question for a bygone DSA example class.’
‘How many palindromes can you think of in pop, either artist name or song title or both?’
‘I mean, 1999, 2000, and 2001 were extremely cool, and 2002 is a palindrome, so that's something, but 2003?’
‘This is accompanied by music that, at its midpoint, turns completely around and becomes its own retrograde, a musical palindrome running back to its beginning.’
‘At 2 minutes past 8 o'clock this evening, the time, date and year will be a palindrome, viz: 2002 2002 2002.’
‘Every time I tell someone my name is Hannah, they tell me that it's a palindrome, as though I didn't already know.’
‘Numerologists will remember 2002 as a palindrome, the last year until 2112 that can be written the same way backward or forward.’
‘This is our first edition for 2002 (which is a palindrome, by the way).’
‘The mood changes are subtle, yet significant, between songs and the album as a whole forms a palindrome, tonally, like its title.’
Origin
Early 17th century from Greek palindromos ‘running back again’, from palin ‘again’ + drom- (from dramein ‘to run’).
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