Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

figure of speech

American  
[fig-yer uhv speech] / ˈfɪg yər əv ˈspitʃ /

noun

Rhetoric.

plural

figures of speech

  1. any expressive use of language, as a metaphor, simile, personification, or antithesis, in which words are used in other than their literal sense, or in other than their ordinary locutions, in order to suggest a picture or image or for other special effect.

figure of speech British  

noun

  1. an expression of language, such as simile, metaphor, or personification, by which the usual or literal meaning of a word is not employed

"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

Etymology

Origin of figure of speech

First recorded in 1815–25

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.