synecdoche

American  

[si-nek-duh-kee] / sɪˈnɛk də ki /

noun

Rhetoric.

1. a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special, as in ten sail for ten ships or a Croesus for a rich man.

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synecdoche British  

/ sɪnˈɛkdəkɪ, ˌsɪnɛkˈdɒkɪk /

noun

1. a figure of speech in which a part is substituted for a whole or a whole for a part, as in 50 head of cattle for 50 cows, or the army for a soldier

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Other Word Forms

• synecdochic adjective
• synecdochical adjective
• synecdochically adverb

Etymology

Origin of synecdoche

1350–1400; < Medieval Latin < Greek synekdochḗ, equivalent to syn- syn- + ekdochḗ act of receiving from another, equivalent to ek- ec- + -dochē, noun derivative of déchesthai to receive

Compare meaning

How does synecdoche compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• metonymy vs. synecdoche

Explanation

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which you use a part of something to stand for the whole thing. If your parents buy you a car and you say that you just got a new set of wheels, you're using synecdoche — you're using the wheels, which are part of a car, to refer to the whole car. To correctly pronounce synecdoche, say "sih-NECK-duh-key." A synecdoche is a part that represents the whole. A photograph of a car that is completely covered in snow is a synecdoche for the burden everyone faces following a big winter storm. Synecdoche is a great literary device, especially for poets who strive to express a great deal in a single image.

Example Sentences

The near-perfect overlay of the religious image with a political image is a visual synecdoche for the Revolution’s replacement of Christianity with the cults of Nature and Reason.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 21, 2025

In Darlington’s Devon neighborhood, the synecdoche for global habitat destruction is the arrival of a sign in a soon-to-be-former farm field: “Site Acquired for Development.”

From Washington Post • Feb. 6, 2023

Baseball is practically a synecdoche for summer—the season of shared, relaxing stillness in the sun.

From Slate • May 22, 2020

The home, a nation unto itself, falls easily into the pitfalls of synecdoche.

From Salon • Mar. 21, 2020

‘Hunger’ is put by synecdoche for hungry animals.

From Milton's Comus by Bell, William