figure of speech

an elaborate poetic image or a far-fetched comparison of very dissimilar things

a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what occurs

extravagant exaggeration

conventional metaphoric name for something, used especially in Old English and Old Norse poetry

a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity

substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in `they counted heads')

conjoining contradictory terms (as in `deafening silence')

representing an abstract quality or idea as a person or creature

a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with `like' or `as')

substituting a more inclusive term for a less inclusive one or vice versa

use of a word to govern two or more words though appropriate to only one

(theater) irony that occurs when the meaning of the situation is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play

a metaphor that has occurred so often that it has become a new meaning of the expression (e.g., `he is a snake' may once have been a metaphor but after years of use it has died and become a new sense of the word `snake')

a combination of two or more metaphors that together produce a ridiculous effect

a metaphor that exploits a similarity between experiences in different sense modalities

substituting metonymy of one figurative sense for another

use of a word to govern two or more words though agreeing in number or case etc. with only one