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