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.

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plain speech

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allegory , analogy , emblem , hope , image , metonymy , personification , similitude , symbol , tropenotes:a simile likens one thing to another dissimilar thing and once meant \'resemblance , similarity\'; a metaphor acts as if the two compared things are identical and substitutes one for the other , anagoge , comparison , conceit , drift , figure of speech , imagery , meaning , simile , synecdoche , tenor , trope , vehicle