Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Anapest \An"a*pest\, n. [L. anapaestus, Gr. ? an anapest, i.e.,
   a dactyl reserved, or, as it were, struck back; fr. ?; ? back
   + ? to strike.]
   1. (Pros.) A metrical foot consisting of three syllables, the
      first two short, or unaccented, the last long, or accented
      ([crescent] [crescent] -); the reverse of the dactyl. In
      Latin d[e^]-[i^]-t[=a]s, and in English in-ter-vene", are
      examples of anapests.

   2. A verse composed of such feet.

Source : WordNet®

anapest
     n : a metrical unit with unstressed-unstressed-stressed
         syllables [syn: {anapaest}]