An expression that uses language in a nonliteral way, such as a metaphor or synedoche, or in a structured or unusual way, such as anaphora or chiasmus, or that employs sounds, such as alliteration or assonance, to achieve a rhetorical effect
A mode of expression in which words are used out of their literal meaning or out of their ordinary use in order to add beauty or emotional intensity or to transfer the poet's sense impressions by comparing or identifying one thing with another that has a meaning familiar to the reader Some important figures of speech are: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole and symbol Sidelight: Some rhetoricians have classified over 200 separate figures of speech, but many are so similar that differences of interpretation often make their classification an arbitrary judgement How they are classified, or "labeled", however, is secondary to the importance of construing their effect correctly Sidelight: Figures of speech are also a means of concentration; they enable the poet to convey an image with the connotative power of a few words, where a great many would otherwise be required (See also Trope )
one of many kinds of word-play, focusing either on sound and word-order (schemes) or on semantics (tropes) A figure of speech usually describes one thing in terms of another
A figure of speech is an expression or word that is used with a metaphorical rather than a literal meaning. Of course I'm not. It was just a figure of speech. An expression that uses language in a nonliteral way, such as a metaphor or synedoche, or in a structured or unusual way, such as anaphora or chiasmus, or that employs sounds, such as alliteration or assonance, to achieve a rhetorical effect. a word or expression that is used in a different way from the normal meaning, to give you a picture in your mind. Form of expression used to convey meaning or heighten effect, often by comparing or identifying one thing with another that has a meaning or connotation familiar to the reader or listener. An integral part of language, figures of speech are found in oral literatures as well as in polished poetry and prose and in everyday speech. Common figures of speech include simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, irony, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and puns
A verbal expression in which words or sounds are arranged in a particular way to achieve a particular effect Figures of speech are organized into different categories, such as alliteration, assonance, metaphor, metonymy, onomatopoeia, simile, and synecdoche