metaphor

[ met-uh-fawr, -fer ]

See synonyms for metaphor on Thesaurus.com

noun

a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”: Compare mixed metaphor, simile (def. 1).
something used, or regarded as being used, to represent something else; emblem; symbol.

Origin of metaphor

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin metaphora, from Greek metaphorá “a transfer,” akin to metaphérein “to transfer”; see meta-, -phore

Other words from metaphor

met·a·phor·i·cal [met-uh-fawr-i-kuhl, -for-], /ˌmɛt əˈfɔr ɪ kəl, -ˈfɒr-/, met·a·phor·ic, adjective

Words that may be confused with metaphor

metaphor , simile

Words Nearby metaphor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use metaphor in a sentence

Once again he accused the West of being unfair to Russia, bringing back his favorite metaphor, the Russian bear.
After His Disastrous Annual Press Conference, Putin Needs A Hug | Anna Nemtsova | December 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The original metaphor was: erect a wall to keep the garden of the church free from the wilderness of politics.
Dear Evangelicals: You’re Being Had | Jay Michaelson | November 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The scene must be a metaphor for sex, because really who does any of this?
Taylor Swift’s ‘Blank Space’: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Tay-Tay Scorned | Sujay Kumar | November 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Lepore has a different, though still linear, metaphor for the history of feminism: “a river, wending.”
Wonder Woman’s Creation Story Is Wilder Than You Could Ever Imagine | Tom Arnold-Forster | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
To wring all that can be wrung from metaphor, note what our elected and appointed officials are not dressed as.
Election Day Is Scarier Than Halloween | P. J. O’Rourke | November 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

Your correspondent Erica gives us some quotations and epitaphs, in which the metaphor of an Inn is applied both to life and death.
Notes and Queries, Number 177, March 19, 1853 | Various
"To say that the brute has awakened in a man is not a mere metaphor always," he went on presently.
Three More John Silence Stories | Algernon Blackwood
The musician not showing any visible appreciation of the managers metaphor, Perkins immediately proceeded to uncock his eye.
The Fifth String | John Philip Sousa
By a noble metaphor, says Milman, the day of their death was considered that of their birth to immortality.
The Catacombs of Rome | William Henry Withrow
To carry out your metaphor of the tree, the graft cut from the parent stock must bear fruit for itself.
Alone | Marion Harland

British Dictionary definitions for metaphor

metaphor

/ (ˈmɛtəfə, -ˌfɔː) /

noun

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action that it does not literally denote in order to imply a resemblance, for example he is a lion in battle: Compare simile

Origin of metaphor

C16: from Latin, from Greek metaphora, from metapherein to transfer, from meta- + pherein to bear

Derived forms of metaphor

metaphoric (ˌmɛtəˈfɒrɪk) or metaphorical, adjective
metaphorically, adverb
metaphoricalness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for metaphor

metaphor

The comparison of one thing to another without the use of like or as: “A man is but a weak reed”; “The road was a ribbon of moonlight.” Metaphors are common in literature and expansive speech. (Compare simile.)

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