metaphor

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“
Each of them, for the metaphor is applicable either way, carries a whole world on his shoulders, or looks down on a whole world from his natural altitude.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in "a sea of troubles” or "All the world's a stage” (Shakespeare).
  2. noun One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol: "Hollywood has always been an irresistible, prefabricated metaphor for the crass, the materialistic, the shallow, and the craven” (Neal Gabler).

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Examples (50)

  • I reached out until the hand in my rig keyed the menu that floated at the top of my vision when no other metaphor was available. —  F ;SF - vol 088 issue 03 - March 1995
  • If so, the metaphor was apt, since my whole soul was enflamed by the unseen songstress. —  F ;SF; - vol 102 issue 05 - May 2002
  • And the map as a metaphor, and a definition of conflict was really strong. —  Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
  • The abstract component of the metaphor is the theory of evolution; it is that which needs explanation. —  Serendip's Exchange -
  • But this metaphor is absurd and wrong on the face of it. —  Debunking Christianity
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Words tagged metaphor

neck of the woods · eye of the storm · dogleg hole · bone of contention · foot of the bed · heart of the matter · teeth of the storm · mouth of a river · foothills · headwaters · knik arm

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This word has been looked up 516 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English methaphor, from Old French metaphore, from Latin metaphora, from Greek, transference, metaphor, from metapherein, to transfer : meta-, meta- + pherein, to carry; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = Frenchmétaphore = Spanish metáfora = Portuguese metaphora = Italian metafora, from Latin metaphora from Greek μεταφορά, a transfer to one word of the sense of another from Latin translatio), from μεταφέρειν carry over, transfer, from μετά, over, + φέρειν, carry, = English bear.
 

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/ˈmɛtəfər/
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