Word.ws English Dictionary

runcible

Syllables: run·ci·ble/ˈɹʌnsɪb(ə)l/US/ˈɹʌnsəbəl/

runcible adjective: a nonce word used for humorous effect.

Adjective

runcible (not comparable)

  1. (humorous) A nonce word used for humorous effect.
    • They dined on mince and slices of quince, / Which they ate with a runcible spoon, / And hand in hand on the edge of the sand / They danced by the light of the moon,— / The moon, / They danced by the light of the moon.1870 February, Edward Lear, “The Owl and the Pussy-cat”, in J[ohn] T[ownsend] Trowbridge, Lucy Larcom, editors, Our Young Folks. An Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls, volume VI, number II...
    • The Dolomphious Duck, / who caught Spotted Frogs for her dinner / with a Runcible Spoon. […] The Rural Runcible Raven, / who wore a White Wig and flew away / with the Carpet Broom.1872, Edward Lear, “Twenty-six Nonsense Rhymes and Pictures”, in More Nonsense, Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc., London: Robert John Bush, 32, Charing Cross, S.W., →OCLC

Examples of runcible in a sentence

  • "It is an absolute aboriginal runcible hat.1909 February, J[ohn] C[ollis] Snaith, “Araminta”, in The Forum, volume XLI, New York, N.Y.: The Forum Publishing Company, →OCLC, pages 157...
  • The miners of Talus push a runcible transfer gate, enmeshed in hardfields, into the giant planet's core.2015, Neal Asher, chapter 1, in Dark Intelligence: Transformation, Book One, London: Pan Books, →ISBN, page 16:

Origin of runcible

A nonce word coined by the English artist and poet Edward Lear (1812–1888) in his poem The Owl and the Pussy-cat (published 1870). It has been suggested that the word was modelled after rounceval, rouncival (“a large pea, the marrowfat”) (late 16th c.).

Words formed from runcible

Phrases with runcible

Questions about runcible

What does runcible mean?
Runcible means a nonce word used for humorous effect.
How do you use runcible in a sentence?
"It is an absolute aboriginal runcible hat.
What part of speech is runcible?
Runcible is an adjective.
How do you pronounce runcible?
Runcible is pronounced /ˈɹʌnsɪb(ə)l/ (UK).

Words near runcible in the dictionary

  1. runchase
  2. runchases
  3. runched
  4. runches
  5. runching
  6. runcible
  7. runcible spoon
  8. runcible spoons
  9. runcic
  10. runcicantellated
  11. runcicantellation

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: runcible (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-runcible.wav.

Cite this entry: “runcible.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/runcible. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.