[met-uh-fawr, -fer] 
| 1. | 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). |
| 2. | something used, or regarded as being used, to represent something else; emblem; symbol. |
| met·a·phor (mět'ə-fôr', -fər) n.
[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.] met'a·phor'ic (-fôr'ĭk, -fŏr'-), met'a·phor'i·cal adj., met'a·phor'i·cal·ly adv. |
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.)
əˌfɔr
