a.; also amebean. [f. L. amœbæ-us (a. Gr. ἀμοιβαῖ-ος interchanging, f. ἀμοιβή change) + -AN.] Alternately answering, responsive.
1658. Phillips, Amœbæan Verses are such as answer one another by course; as in some of Virgil’s Eclogues.
1810. Coleridge, Friend, VI. i. (1876), 279. Those contests or Amoibean eclogues, between workmen for the superior worth and dignity of their several callings.
1861. Sat. Rev., 25 May, 526/1. The details seem to be absurd enough, especially when enlivened by that amœbean exchange of witticisms between the Bench and Bar.
1883. Cornh. Mag., Jan., 80. Spring and Winter, contending for the lad, sing an amœbean ode.
