Webster's English Dictionary

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metaphor

met.a.phor \'met-*-.fo.(*)r, -f*r\ \.met-*-'fo.r-i-k*l, -'fa:r-\ 
   \-i-k(*-)le-\ n [MF or L; MF, metaphore, fr. L metaphora, fr. Gk, fr. 
   metapherei]n to transfer, fr. meta- + pherein to bear - more at BEAR : a 
   figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind  of 
   object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy 
   between them (as in the ship plows the sea); broadly : figurative language 
   - met.a.phor.i.cal aj