metaph

Noun

metaphor (countable and uncountable, plural metaphors)

1. (rhetoric, uncountable) The use of a word, phrase, concept, or set of concepts to refer to something other than its literal meaning, invoking an implicit similarity between the thing described and what is denoted by the word, etc., that is used.
   • The next group of computational approaches to metaphor assume that metaphor is basically a hidden analogy.2013, Eileen Cornell Way, Knowledge Representation and Metaphor, page 157
2. (countable, rhetoric) A word or phrase used in such implied comparison.
   • A Metaphor, in place of proper words,
     Resemblance puts; and dress to speech affords.1835, L[arret] Langley, “[The Seven Tropes.] Metaphor.”, in A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster, South Yorkshire: […] C. White, […], →OCLC, page 3
3. (countable) The use of an everyday object or concept to represent an underlying facet of the computer and thus aid users in performing tasks.
   • desktop metaphor, wastebasket metaphor

See all 5 meanings of metaphor