METAPHOR

metaphor

(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

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

metaphor (countable and uncountable, plural metaphors)

(uncountable and countable, figure of speech) The use of a word or phrase to refer to something that it is not, invoking a direct similarity between the word or phrase used and the thing described (but in the case of English without the words like or as, since use of those words would imply a simile); the word or phrase used in this way; an implied comparison.

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

Hypernyms

• (rhetoric): figure of speech, trope

Verb

metaphor (third-person singular simple present metaphors, present participle metaphoring, simple past and past participle metaphored)

(intransitive) To use a metaphor.

(transitive) To describe by means of a metaphor.

Anagrams

• prothema

Source: Wiktionary


Met"a*phor, n. Etym: [F. métaphore, L. metaphora, fr. Gr. meta` beyond, over + fe`rein to bring, bear.] (Rhet.)

Definition: 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.

Note: The statement, "that man is a fox," is a metaphor; but "that man is like a fox," is a simile, similitude, or comparison.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

15 April 2025

DOOMED

(adjective) marked by or promising bad fortune; “their business venture was doomed from the start”; “an ill-fated business venture”; “an ill-starred romance”; “the unlucky prisoner was again put in irons”- W.H.Prescott


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the most massive cup of coffee contained 22,739.14 liters and was created by Alcaldía Municipal de Chinchiná (Colombia) at Parque de Bolívar, Chinchiná, Caldas, Colombia, on 15 June 2019. Fifty people worked for more than a month to build this giant cup. The drink prepared was Arabic coffee.

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