Metaphor

//ˈmɛt.ə.foɹ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The use of a word, phrase, concept, or set of concepts to refer to something other than its literal meaning, invoking an implicit similarity between the thing described and what is denoted by the word, etc., that is used. rhetoric, uncountable

    "The next group of computational approaches to metaphor assume that metaphor is basically a hidden analogy."

  2. 2
    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 wordnet
  3. 3
    A word or phrase used in such implied comparison. countable, rhetoric

    "A Metaphor, in place of proper words, Resemblance puts; and dress to speech affords."

  4. 4
    The use of an everyday object or concept to represent an underlying facet of the computer and thus aid users in performing tasks. countable

    "desktop metaphor; wastebasket metaphor"

Verb
  1. 1
    To use a metaphor. intransitive
  2. 2
    To describe by means of a metaphor. transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
accordanceagentagreementalikenessallegoryalliance

Example

More examples

""He's a tiger when he's angry" is an example of metaphor."

Etymology

From Middle French métaphore, from Latin metaphora, from Ancient Greek μεταφορά (metaphorá), from μεταφέρω (metaphérō, “I transfer, apply”), from μετά (metá, “with, across, after”) + φέρω (phérō, “I bear, carry”).

Related phrases

conceptual metaphordead metaphorextended metaphormetaphorical extensionmixed metaphorstale metaphor

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.