The lexical emotive means and stylistic devices

Metaphor Definition and Examples

Those are the uses of metaphor, and this is the official definition:

• 
  A word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar
  
• 
  An object, activity, or idea that is used as a symbol of something else
  

Metaphors are a form of figurative language, which refers to words or expressions that mean something different from their literal definition. In the case of metaphors, the literal interpretation would often be pretty silly. For example, imagine what these metaphors would look like if you took them at face value:

Love is a battlefield.

Bob is a couch potato.

Baby, you’re a firework.

I am titanium.

Once you get past the image of going on a date armed with a battleaxe or David Guetta made out of corrosion-resistant metal, the result is a much more powerful description of people or events than you’d get with phrases like “love is difficult” or “I’m very strong.”

Metaphors show up in literature, poetry, music, and writing, but also in speech. If you hear someone say “metaphorically speaking,” it probably means that you shouldn’t take what they said as the truth, but as more of an idea. For example, it’s finals period and after exams, students are saying things like “That test was murder.” It’s a fair guess they’re still alive if they’re making comments about the test, so this is an example of speaking metaphorically or figuratively.

Metaphors can make your words come to life (or in the case of the exam, to death). Often, you can use a metaphor to make your subject more relatable to the reader or to make a complex thought easier to understand. They can also be a tremendous help when you want to enhance your writing with imagery. As a common figure of speech, metaphors turn up everywhere from novels and films to presidential speeches and even popular songs. When they’re especially good, they’re hard to miss.

Take these famous metaphor examples:

• 
  All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances. (William Shakespeare)
  
• 
  America has tossed its cap over the wall of space. (John F. Kennedy)
  
• 
  Chaos is a friend of mine. (Bob Dylan)
  
• 
  A good conscience is a continual Christmas. (Benjamin Franklin)
  
• 
  You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog, cryin’ all the time. (Elvis Presley)
  

If you’re trying to tell the difference between metaphors and similes, the more obvious comparison in similes makes them easier to identify as figures of speech.

While someone might actually think that Elvis Presley has a hound dog who happens to be particularly noisy, imagine if his lyric went “You’re like a hound dog,” or “You’re as whiny as a hound dog.” In these cases, Elvis would be using a simile, which makes it a bit clearer that he’s not actually singing to a sad puppy. But on the flip side, the rhythm wouldn’t be quite as catchy.

Read up on similes, and check out these examples to get a taste for how they work:

She’s as cute as a button.

It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

He’s as nutty as a fruitcake.

Ogres are like onions.*

*That one’s from Shrek.