Ăn'tĭ-spăst or Ăn'tĭ-spăs'tus, n.

Ăn'tĭ-spăs'tus, n. [Lat. antispastus, Gr. ἀντίσπαστος, drawn in the contrary direction; n., in prosody, an antispast;—from ἀντισπᾶν. See ANTISPASIS.] (Pros.) A tetrasyllabic foot consisting of two opposite halves, the first a short syllable and a long one, with accent on the latter; the second a long syllable and a short one, with accent on the former.