1. half of a line of verse, especially as divided by a caesura
Usage: literary; prosody

Examples

• The poet used a strong caesura to divide each line into two hemistichs.
• In Old English poetry, each hemistich typically contained two stressed syllables.
• The hemistich before the pause contrasted sharply with the one that followed.
• Students analyzed how the meaning shifted between the first and second hemistich.
• The translator preserved the hemistich structure of the original epic poem.
• Each hemistich in the ballad maintained its own rhythmic pattern.