metaphor
/ˈmɛtəfə
/ /ˈmɛtəfɔː/noun
1A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable: when we speak of gene maps and gene mapping, we use a cartographic metaphor [mass noun]: her poetry depends on suggestion and metaphor...
- Images are often presented through figures of speech like simile and metaphor.
- It is his method of organising words, images and metaphors to create the particular effect he seeks to achieve.
- Her daily speech is sprinkled with metaphors and witty turns of phrase.
Synonyms
figure of speech, figurative expression, image, trope, allegory, parable, analogy, comparison, symbol, emblem, word painting, word picture
literary conceit
1.1A thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else: the amounts of money being lost by the company were enough to make it a metaphor for an industry that was teetering...
- The torso also includes the heart, a metaphor for your vital life force, as well as representing the bonds of love.
- I had also meant for this story to be a metaphor for my own life as I knew it and saw it.
- In the story, this inability to finish a picture is a metaphor for being reluctant to commit to a relationship.
Origin
Late 15th century: from French métaphore, via Latin from Greek metaphora, from metapherein 'to transfer'.
- off-spinner
- off-spinning
- offspring
- offstage
- off-street
- off stump
- off-switch
- off-tackle
- offtake
- off target
- off the ball
- off the beaten track
- off the beaten track (or path)
- off the bit (or bridle)
- off the boat
- off-the-course
- off the cuff
- off-the-face
- off the grid
- off the grog
- off the hook
- off-the-job
- off the map
- off the pace
- off the peg