sim·i·le

[sim-uh-lee]
noun
1.
a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.” Compare metaphor.
2.
an instance of such a figure of speech or a use of words exemplifying it.
Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin: image, likeness, comparison, noun use of neuter of similis similar

Can be confused: metaphor, simile.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
simile (ˈsɪmɪlɪ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
Compare metaphor a figure of speech that expresses the resemblance of one thing to another of a different category, usually introduced by as or like
 
[C14: from Latin simile something similar, from similis like]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Simile is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

simile
1393, from L. simile "a like thing," neuter of similis "like" (see similar). "A simile, to be perfect, must both illustrate and ennoble the subject." [Johnson].
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
simile [(sim-uh-lee)]

A common figure of speech that explicitly compares two things usually considered different. Most similes are introduced by like or as: “The realization hit me like a bucket of cold water.” (Compare metaphor.)

Note: Some similes, such as “sleeping like a log,” have become clichés.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
It has done great good there, keeping down the phony simile, the woolly clause.
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to
  seeing in print.
There is more regard for the quaintness and unexpectedness of a simile than for
  its beauty or fitness.
Item will not refer to both a simile and a metaphor.
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