metaphor

IPA: mˈɛtʌfɔr

(uncountable, rhetoric) The use of a word or phrase to refer to something other than its literal meaning, invoking an implicit similarity between the thing described and what is denoted by the word or phrase.
(countable, rhetoric) A word or phrase used in such implied comparison.
(countable, graphical user interface) The use of an everyday object or concept to represent an underlying facet of the computer and thus aid users in performing tasks.

Examples of "metaphor" in Sentences

And then he whacks the villain before you can say the word metaphor.
The word "metaphor" comes from the Greek and means "to carry beyond."
Well the metaphor is a dangerous one if we extend it to the British School of soccer management.
Weidenbaum: It’s interesting talking to you, because you use the term metaphor but you don’t speak in metaphors.
"A lot of science-fiction will use the word metaphor - that their spaceship is a metaphor for human society," he continues.
How about "Lions Led By Asses" as a less-encumbered rephrasing of the title metaphor and is probably what the original Brit bon-moticist had in mind IMHO?
Our visions of what our society is, what it could be, and what it should be, are all structures of metaphor, because the metaphor is the unit of all imagination.
-- If what is begun as a metaphor is not completed as begun, but is completed by a part of another metaphor or by plain language, we have what, is called a _mixed metaphor_.
My books are not quite the same as my children, but the metaphor is the best I can muster – I really am bothered when people say negative things about my children – I want to protect them.
Never straying too far from the title metaphor, Sting depicts the rise and fall of human fortunes and emotions, the cycles of despair and hope as reliable as day after night, spring after winter, warm after cold.