rhythm and bluespl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Abbr. R & B A style of music developed by African Americans that combines blues and jazz, characterized by a strong backbeat and repeated variations on syncopated instrumental phrases.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.rhythm and blues n (Pop Music) (functioning as singular) any of various kinds of popular music derived from or influenced by the blues. Abbreviation: R & B Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014rhythm? and blues? n. a folk-based form of black popular music forerunning rock. [1945?50, Amer.] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.rhythm and bluesA very popular and wide-ranging style of music that emerged from traditional blues in the 1940s. R&B can be characterized by its use of blues chords played over a strong and consistent backbeat and by its emphasis on composition rather than the improvisation common in traditional blues. Hip hop, rap, soul, and disco are all categories of R&B and R&B also formed the foundation of rock and roll.Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited