metaphor

Dictionary

metaphor |ˈmetəˌfôr; -fər|

noun

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable : “I had fallen through a trapdoor of depression,” said Mark, who was fond of theatrical metaphors | her poetry depends on suggestion and metaphor. • a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, esp. something abstract : the amounts of money being lost by the company were enough to make it a metaphor for an industry that was teetering. DERIVATIVES metaphoric |ˌmetəˈfôrik| adjective metaphorical |ˌmetəˈfôrikəl| adjective metaphorically |ˌmetəˈfôrik(ə)lē| adverb ORIGIN late 15th cent.: from French métaphore, via Latin from Greek metaphora, from metapherein ‘to transfer.’

Thesaurus

metaphor noun the profusion of metaphors in her everyday speech has gotten pretty tiresome figure of speech, image, trope, analogy, comparison, symbol, word painting/picture.