metaphor
- metaphor
- [[t]me̱təfɔːr[/t]]
metaphors
1) N-VAR A metaphor is an imaginative way of describing something by referring to something else which is the same in a particular way. For example, if you want to say that someone is very shy and frightened of things, you might say that they are a mouse.
...the avoidance of `violent expressions and metaphors' like `kill two birds with one stone'.
...the writer's use of metaphor.
2)
N-VAR: oft N for
n If one thing is a
metaphor for another, it is intended or regarded as a symbol of it.
The divided family remains a powerful metaphor for a society that continued to tear itself apart.
3)
PHRASE: V inflects If you
mix your
metaphors, you use two conflicting metaphors. People do this accidentally, or sometimes deliberately as a joke.
To mix yet more metaphors, you were trying to run before you could walk, and I've clipped your wings...
Despite the mixed metaphor, there is some truth in this judgement.
English dictionary.
2008.
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Look at other dictionaries:
metaphor — met a*phor (m[e^]t [.a]*f[^o]r or m[e^]t [.a]*f[ e]r), n. [F. m[ e]taphore, L. metaphora, fr. Gr. metafora , fr. metafe rein to carry over, transfer; meta beyond, over + fe rein to bring, bear.] (Rhet.) The transference of the relation between… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
metaphor — [met′ə fôr΄] n. [Fr métaphore < L metaphora < Gr < metapherein, to carry over < meta, over (see META ) + pherein, to BEAR1] a figure of speech containing an implied comparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily used… … English World dictionary
metaphor — index example Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
metaphor — (n.) late 15c., from M.Fr. metaphore (O.Fr. metafore, 13c.), and directly from L. metaphora, from Gk. metaphora a transfer, especially of the sense of one word to a different word, lit. a carrying over, from metapherein transfer, carry over;… … Etymology dictionary
metaphor — simile, *analogy … New Dictionary of Synonyms
metaphor — [n] figure of speech, implied comparison allegory, analogy, emblem, hope, image, metonymy, personification, similitude, symbol, trope; concept 275 Ant. plain speech … New thesaurus
metaphor — ► NOUN 1) a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable (e.g. food for thought). 2) a thing symbolic of something else. ORIGIN from Greek, from metapherein to transfer … English terms dictionary
Metaphor — This article is about the figure of speech. For other uses, see Metaphor (disambiguation). A political cartoon from an 1894 Puck magazine by illustrator S.D. Ehrhart, shows a farm woman labeled Democratic Party sheltering from a tornado of… … Wikipedia
metaphor — metaphorical /met euh fawr i keuhl, for /, metaphoric, adj. metaphorically, adv. metaphoricalness, n. /met euh fawr , feuhr/, n. 1. a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in… … Universalium
metaphor — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ appropriate, apt, good, perfect ▪ powerful, striking ▪ useful ▪ central … Collocations dictionary
Metaphor — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Metaphor >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 figure of speech figure of speech Sgm: N 1 facon de parler facon de parler =>(French) way of speaking colloquialism GRP: N 2 Sgm: N 2 phrase phrase &c. 566 Sgm: N 2 … English dictionary for students
