metaphor

MET-uh-for/ˈmɛt.ə.foɹ/UKMET-uh-fuh/ˈmɛ.tə.fə/

Pluralmetaphors

5 meanings of metaphor

1
nounrhetoriccountable
A word or phrase that talks about one thing as if it were another to show they are alike.
Like calling someone a 'night owl': you don't mean a real bird, just that they stay up late.
Calling time a thief is a vivid metaphor for how quickly it passes.
The poem is packed with metaphors drawn from the sea.
Similarimage, trope, figure
Note
2
nounrhetoricuncountable
Using words to talk about one thing as if it were another, to show they are alike in some way.
Like saying 'time is money': you treat one thing as if it were a completely different thing.
Poets rely on metaphor to express feelings that plain words cannot reach.
Through metaphor, she turned an ordinary letter into something unforgettable.
Similarimagery, symbolism, figuration
Note
3
nouncountable
A familiar everyday object used on a computer to stand for a task, making the computer easier to use.
Like a trash can drawn on your screen: it is not real, but it shows you where deleted files go.
The desktop metaphor lets people drag files into folders just as they would at a real desk.
Designers chose the trash-can metaphor so that deleting a file would feel familiar.
Note

Less common meanings

4
verbraretransitive
To describe something by calling it a different thing that it is like.
In the poem, the moon is metaphored as a silver coin dropped in the sky.
The teacher asked us why the writer chose to metaphor the sea as a hungry animal.
Similarcast, portray, depict, figure
5
verb
To use a metaphor.

Practice

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Origin

From Ancient Greek 'metaphora', from a verb meaning 'I transfer' or 'carry across', made from 'meta' (across) and 'pherō' (I carry).