'metaphor' definitions:
Definition of 'metaphor'
(from WordNet)
noun
A figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity
Definition of 'metaphor'
From: GCIDE
- 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 one set of objects to another set for the purpose of brief explanation; a compressed simile; e. g., the ship plows the sea. --Abbott & Seeley. "All the world's a stage." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Note: The statement, "that man is a fox," is a metaphor; but "that man is like a fox," is a simile, similitude, or comparison. [1913 Webster] Metaphoric
Synonyms of 'metaphor'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- accordance,
- agent,
- agreement,
- alikeness,
- allegory,
- alliance,
- alliteration,
- allusion,
- alternate,
- alternative,
- anacoluthon,
- anadiplosis,
- analogue,
- analogy,
- anaphora,
- anastrophe,
- antiphrasis,
- antithesis,
- antonomasia,
- aping,
- apophasis,
- aporia,
- aposiopesis,
- apostrophe,
- approach,
- approximation,
- assimilation,
- backup,
- balancing,
- catachresis,
- change,
- changeling,
- chiasmus,
- circumlocution,
- climax,
- closeness,
- community,
- comparability,
- comparative anatomy,
- comparative degree,
- comparative grammar,
- comparative judgment,
- comparative linguistics,
- comparative literature,
- comparative method,
- compare,
- comparing,
- comparison,
- conformity,
- confrontation,
- confrontment,
- contrast,
- contrastiveness,
- conversion,
- copy,
- copying,
- correlation,
- correspondence,
- counterfeit,
- deputy,
- distinction,
- distinctiveness,
- double,
- dummy,
- ecphonesis,
- emphasis,
- equal,
- equivalent,
- ersatz,
- exchange,
- exclamation,
- fake,
- figure of speech,
- fill-in,
- gemination,
- ghost,
- ghostwriter,
- hypallage,
- hyperbaton,
- hyperbole,
- identity,
- image,
- imagery,
- imitation,
- inversion,
- irony,
- likeness,
- likening,
- litotes,
- locum tenens,
- makeshift,
- malapropism,
- matching,
- meiosis,
- metonymy,
- mimicking,
- nearness,
- next best thing,
- onomatopoeia,
- opposing,
- opposition,
- oxymoron,
- parallelism,
- paregmenon,
- parenthesis,
- parity,
- periphrasis,
- personification,
- personnel,
- phony,
- pinch hitter,
- pleonasm,
- preterition,
- prolepsis,
- proportion,
- proxy,
- reference,
- regression,
- relation,
- relief,
- repetition,
- replacement,
- representative,
- resemblance,
- reserves,
- ringer,
- sameness,
- sarcasm,
- second string,
- secondary,
- semblance,
- sign,
- similarity,
- simile,
- similitude,
- simulation,
- spares,
- spoonerism,
- stand-in,
- sub,
- substituent,
- substitute,
- substitution,
- succedaneum,
- superseder,
- supplanter,
- surrogate,
- syllepsis,
- symbol,
- symbolism,
- symploce,
- synecdoche,
- third string,
- token,
- trope,
- trope of comparison,
- understudy,
- utility player,
- vicar,
- vice-president,
- vice-regent,
- weighing,
- zeugma