an·a·pest also an·a·paest 
(ănə-pĕst′)
(ănə-pĕst′)n.
1. A metrical foot composed of two unaccented syllables followed by one accented one, as in the word seventeen.
2. A metrical foot in quantitative verse composed of two short syllables followed by one long one.
[Latin anapaestus, from Greek anapaistos : ana-, ana- + paiein, pais-, to strike (so called because an anapest is a reversed dactyl); see pau-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
an′a·pestic adj.