From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdactyldac‧tyl /ˈdæktɪl $ -tl/ noun [countable] ALa repeated sound pattern in poetry, consisting of one long sound followed by two short sounds, as in the word ‘carefully’ —dactylic /dækˈtɪlɪk/ adjective
Examples from the Corpus
dactyl• Where you have a, what is a dactyl, like duh duh duh or something like that?Origin dactyl (1300-1400) Latin dactylus, from Greek daktylos “finger” (because of the length of the three finger-joints) 