Definition of figure of speech Figure of speech
fig•ure of speech
We found 4 definitions of figure of speech from 4 different sources.
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What does figure of speech mean?
WordNet
Noun |
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| figure of speech - language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense | ||
| trope, figure, image | ||
| rhetorical device a use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance) | ||
| conceit the trait of being unduly vain and conceited; false pride | ||
| irony incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs; "the irony of Ireland's copying the nation she most hated" | ||
| hyperbole, exaggeration extravagant exaggeration | ||
| kenning conventional metaphoric name for something, used especially in Old English and Old Norse poetry | ||
| metaphor 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 | ||
| metonymy substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in `they counted heads') | ||
| oxymoron conjoining contradictory terms (as in `deafening silence') | ||
| prosopopoeia, personification the act of attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas etc. | ||
| simile a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with `like' or `as') | ||
| synecdoche substituting a more inclusive term for a less inclusive one or vice versa | ||
| zeugma use of a word to govern two or more words though appropriate to only one; "`Mr. Pickwick took his hat and his leave' is an example of zeugma" | ||
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Wiktionary 
- figure of speech (Noun)
A word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language.
OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω
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figure of speech
A word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language.
Wikipedia 
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A figure of speech is an expression used to communicate a message. Many figures of speech are not meant to be understood as a literal message.
A common figure of speech in North America is to say that someone "threw down the gauntlet." This does not usually mean that a person threw a protective wrist-covering down on the ground. Instead, it usually means that the person issued a public challenge to another person (or group of people).
