Cipher rhyme refers to a rhyme scheme or end-rhyme pattern that functions as part of an encoding system, concealing messages or meanings beyond mere sonic correspondence. The rhyming words themselves may form an acrostic message, contain coded information when read in sequence, or create patterns whose significance emerges only when decoded. Alternatively, the rhyme scheme's structural pattern may encode information through its numerical arrangement or systematic deviations. Cipher rhyme combines the aesthetic pleasure of sonic repetition with cryptographic function, creating verse that operates simultaneously on surface and hidden levels of meaning.

Cipher rhyme uses end sounds that appear unrelated but share hidden semantic or symbolic links—common in coded or resistance poetry where overt expression is dangerous.