A list of metaphors in the English language organised alphabetically by type. A
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...
is a literary
figure of speech that uses an image, story or
tangible
Tangibility is the property of being able to be perceived by touch. A commonplace understanding of "tangibility" renders it as an attribute allowing something to be perceptible to the senses.
In criminal law, one of the elements of an offense ...
thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels". ''Metaphor'' may also be used for any
rhetorical
figures of speech
A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use in order to produce a rhetorical effect. Figures of speech are traditionally classified into '' schemes,'' which vary the ordinary ...
that achieve their effects via association, comparison or resemblance. In this broader sense,
antithesis,
hyperbole
Hyperbole (; adj. hyperbolic ) is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. In rhetoric, it is also sometimes known as auxesis (literally 'growth'). In poetry and oratory, it emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and ...
,
metonymy and
simile
A simile () is a figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes differ from other metaphors by highlighting the similarities between two things using comparison words such as "like", "as", "so", or "than", while other metaphors c ...
would all be considered types of metaphor.
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
used both this sense and the regular, current sense above.
[''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) pp.653–55: "A rhetorical figure with two senses, both originating with Aristotle in the 4c BC: (I) All figures of speech that achieve their effects through association, comparison and resemblance. Figures like antithesis, hyperbole, metonymy and simile are n that senseall species of metaphor. utthis sense is not current, ..."]
With metaphor, unlike
analogy, specific interpretations are not given explicitly.
Animals
*
800-pound gorilla
"800-pound gorilla" is an American English expression for a person or organization so powerful that it can act without regard to the rights of others or the law.
The phrase is rooted in a riddle joke:
This highlights the disparity of power be ...
*
Albatross (metaphor)
*
Song bird (metaphor)
*
Belling the cat
*
Blind men and an elephant
*
Boiling frog
The boiling frog is an apologue describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it wil ...
*
Butterfly effect
*
Camel's nose
The camel's nose is a metaphor for a situation where the permitting of a small, seemingly innocuous act will open the door for larger, clearly undesirable actions.
History
The phrase is not commonly used in the 21st century. According to Geoffre ...
*
Canary in the coal mine
Sentinel species are organisms, often animals, used to detect risks to humans by providing advance warning of a danger. The terms primarily apply in the context of environmental hazards rather than those from other sources. Some animals can act ...
*
Chicken or the egg
*
Dead cat bounce
In finance, a dead cat bounce is a small, brief recovery in the price of a declining stock. Derived from the idea that "even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from a great height", the phrase, which originated on Wall Street, is also popularly ap ...
*
Duck trick
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...
*
Elephant in the room
The expression “the elephant in the room” (or "the elephant in the living room") is a metaphorical idiom in English for an important or enormous topic, question, or controversial issue that is obvious or that everyone knows about but no one ...
*
Beating a dead horse
*
Four Asian Tigers
The Four Asian Tigers (also known as the Four Asian Dragons or Four Little Dragons in Chinese and Korean) are the developed East Asian economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Between the early 1960s and 1990s, they underwent ...
*
His Eye is on the Sparrow
"His Eye Is on the Sparrow" is a gospel hymn written in 1905 by lyricist Civilla D. Martin and composer Charles H. Gabriel. It is most associated with actress-singer Ethel Waters who used the title for her autobiography. Mahalia Jackson's recordi ...
*
Letting the cat out of the bag
Letting the cat out of the bag (also ...box) is a colloquialism meaning to reveal facts previously hidden. It could refer to revealing a conspiracy (friendly or not) to its target, letting an outsider into an inner circle of knowledge (e.g., expla ...
*
Mama grizzly
''Mama grizzly'' is a term that former U.S. vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin coined to refer to herself that has since been applied to female candidates she supported or endorsed in the 2010 U.S. midterm elections (co ...
*
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do is a pidgin-style saying that was already called an "old saying" in 1900. The saying refers to the learning of a process without an understanding of why it works. Another definition implies the act of imitation, usually with ...
*
Ostrich effect
In behavioral finance, the ostrich effect is the attempt made by investors to avoid negative financial information. The name comes from the common (but false) legend that ostriches bury their heads in the sand to avoid danger.
Originally the term ...
*
Reverse ferret
In British media, a reverse ferret is a sudden reversal in an organisation's editorial or political line on a certain issue. Generally, this will involve no acknowledgement of the previous position.
The term originates from Kelvin MacKenzie's tim ...
*
Seeing pink elephants
"Seeing pink elephants" is a euphemism for hallucinations caused by delirium tremens or alcoholic hallucinosis, especially the former. The term dates back to at least the early 20th century, emerging from earlier idioms about seeing snakes and o ...
*
The Sheep and the Goats
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
*
Snake venom
*
Spherical cow
Comic of a spherical cow as illustrated by a 1996 meeting of the American Astronomical Association, in reference to astronomy modeling
The spherical cow is a humorous metaphor for highly simplified scientific models of complex phenomena. Origina ...
*
Throw to the wolves
*
Turkeys voting for Christmas
*
Turtles all the way down
*
White elephant
A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, construction project, sch ...
*
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?
"Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" is a quotation from Alexander Pope's " Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot" of January 1735.
It alludes to " breaking on the wheel", a form of torture in which victims had their long bones broken by an iron bar while ...
*
You have two cows
*
Shaving a cat with no hair
Body parts
*
Broken heart
Broken heart (also known as a heartbreak or heartache) is a metaphor for the intense emotional stress or pain one feels at experiencing great and deep longing. The concept is cross-cultural, often cited with reference to unreciprocated or lost ...
*
Cold feet
*
Heart (symbol)
The heart symbol is an ideograph used to express the idea of the "heart" in its metaphorical or symbolic sense. Represented by an anatomically inaccurate shape, the heart symbol is often used to represent the center of emotion, including affect ...
Nautical
* ''Taken aback'', on a sailing vessel the sails were 'taken aback' when the wind was unintentionally blowing on the wrong side of the sails causing a potentially dangerous situation. Later used to indicate a difficult or unexpected situation.
* ''Batten down the hatches'', to secure the hatch covers against ingress of water in preparation for a storm or other rough conditions.
* ''Clear the decks'' to get everything out of the way as a warship went into action.
[
* ''Show someone the ropes'' to show or explain to someone how to do a task or operation. Taken from the use of ropes to orient and adjust the sails, and that each rope is belayed at a specific place.
* ''Sail close to the wind'' is to operate hazardously on very slim margins, usually applied in a financial sense. Derived from the practice of sailing close to the direction of the oncoming wind, where a small shift in the wrong direction could set the vessel aback.
* ''Loaded to the gunwales''
* ''Back and fill''
* ''On one's beam ends''
* ''Awash''
* ''Adrift''
* ''A wide berth''
* '' Flagship''
* ''Unmoored''
* ''Nail one's colors to the mast'', to commit completely to a course of action, as ''striking the colors'' is no longer an option
* ''Flying the flag''
* ''Plain sailing''
* ''With flying colors'' - the colors was the national flag flown at sea during battle, a ship would surrender by lowering the colors and the term is now used to indicate a triumphant victory or win.][
* ''In the doldrums''
* ''All hands to the pumps''
* ''Weathering a storm''
* ''A different tack''
* ''Swinging the lead'' is to avoid duty by feigning illness or injury, original a confusion between ''Swing the leg'' which related to the way dogs can run on three legs to gain sympathy and the sailor's term ''heaving the lead'' which was to take soundings.][
* ''Left high and dry''
* '' Three sheets to the wind'', meaning "staggering drunk," refers to a ship whose sheets have come loose, causing the sails to flap uncontrolled and the ship to meander at the mercy of the elements. Also, "Three sheets in the wind, unsteady from drink."]
* "To the bitter end" may have originally referred to a rope fastened to the ''bitt'', a post attached on the deck of a shi
although this etymology has been dispute
Objects
*Big red button
Big or BIG may refer to:
* Big, of great size or degree
Film and television
* ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks
* '' Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show
* ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...
*Brass ring
A brass ring is a small grabbable ring that a dispenser presents to a carousel rider during the course of a ride. Usually there are a large number of iron rings and one brass one, or just a few. It takes some dexterity to grab a ring from the d ...
* Brass monkey
*Bucket brigade
A bucket brigade or human chain is a method for transporting items where items are passed from one (relatively stationary) person to the next.
The method was important in firefighting before the advent of hand-pumped fire engines, whereby fire ...
*Chain reaction
A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events.
Chain reactions are one way that sys ...
* Chinese fire drill
*Cultural mosaic
"Cultural mosaic" (french: "la mosaïque culturelle") is the mix of ethnic groups, languages, and cultures that coexist within society. The idea of a cultural mosaic is intended to suggest a form of multiculturalism, different from other systems ...
*Domino effect
A domino effect or chain reaction is the cumulative effect generated when a particular event triggers a chain of similar events. This term is best known as a mechanical effect and is used as an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically ...
*Don't judge a book by its cover
The English idiom "don't judge a book by its cover" is a metaphorical phrase that means one should not judge the worth or value of something by its outward appearance alone. For example, "That man may look very small and insignificant, but don't ...
*Holy Grail
The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracu ...
* Inverted pyramid
*Law of the instrument
The law of the instrument, law of the hammer, Maslow's hammer (or gavel), or golden hammer is a cognitive bias that involves an over-reliance on a familiar tool. Abraham Maslow wrote in 1966, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting ...
* Melting pot
*Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancien ...
*Silver bullet
In folklore, a bullet cast from silver is often one of the few weapons that are effective against a werewolf or witch. The term ''silver bullet'' is also a metaphor for a simple, seemingly magical, solution to a difficult problem: for example, pe ...
*Snowball effect
A snowball effect is a process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds upon itself, becoming larger (graver, more serious), and also perhaps potentially dangerous or disastrous (a vicious circle), though it might be be ...
*Soapbox
A soapbox is a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipme ...
* Zanata Stone
* A big chair
* A sailboat
People
*Aunt Sally
Aunt Sally is a traditional English game usually played in pub gardens and fairgrounds, in which players throw sticks or battens at a ball, known as a 'dolly', balanced on top of a stick, traditionally a model of an old woman's head was sometime ...
*Cassandra (metaphor)
The Cassandra metaphor (variously labeled the Cassandra "syndrome", "complex", "phenomenon", "predicament", "dilemma", "curse") relates to a person whose valid warnings or concerns are disbelieved by others.
The term originates in Greek mytholo ...
*Copernican Revolution (metaphor)
The Copernican Revolution was the paradigm shift from the Ptolemaic model of the heavens, which described the cosmos as having Earth stationary at the center of the universe, to the heliocentric model with the Sun at the center of the Solar Sys ...
* Hobson's choice
*Judgment of Solomon
The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which Solomon ruled between two women both claiming to be the mother of a child. Solomon revealed their true feelings and relationship to the child by suggesting the baby be cut in tw ...
*Mary Sue
A Mary Sue is a character archetype in fiction, usually a young woman, who is often portrayed as inexplicably competent across all domains, gifted with unique talents or powers, liked or respected by most other characters, unrealistically fre ...
*Procrustes
In Greek mythology, Procrustes (; Greek: Προκρούστης ''Prokroustes'', "the stretcher ho hammers out the metal), also known as Prokoptas, Damastes (Δαμαστής, "subduer") or Polypemon, was a rogue smith and bandit from Attica ...
*Whipping boy
A whipping boy was a boy educated alongside a prince (or boy monarch) in early modern Europe, who supposedly received corporal punishment for the prince's transgressions in his presence. The prince was not punished himself because his royal sta ...
* Aunt Flow
*Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of ...
Places
* Crossing the Rubicon
* wikt:crossroads, a decision point; a turning point or opportunity to change direction, course, or goal.
*Fork in the road (metaphor)
A fork in the road is a metaphor, based on a literal expression, for a deciding moment in life or history when a choice between presented options is required, and, once made, the choice cannot be reversed.
Examples
*There is a common motif in R ...
* wikt:grey area, an area or topic that is not one thing or the other, or where the border between two things is fuzzy. See also wikt:fall between two stools
*Ground zero
In relation to nuclear explosions and other large bombs, ground zero (also called surface zero) is the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation. In the case of an explosion above the ground, ''ground zero'' is the point on the groun ...
* Mother lode
*Plateau effect
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...
*Podunk
The terms ''podunk'' and ''Podunk Hollow'' in American English denote or describe an insignificant, out-of-the-way, or even completely fictitious town.Nick Bacon. "Podunk After Pratt: Place and Placelessness in East Hartford, CT." In ''Confrontin ...
*Point of no return
The point of no return (PNR or PONR) is the point beyond which one must continue on one's current course of action because turning back is dangerous, physically impossible or difficult, or prohibitively expensive. The point of no return can be a ...
*Slippery slope
A slippery slope argument (SSA), in logic, critical thinking, political rhetoric, and caselaw, is an argument in which a party asserts that a relatively small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant (usually ...
*Walk to Canossa
The Humiliation of Canossa ( it, L'umiliazione di Canossa), sometimes called the Walk to Canossa (german: Gang nach Canossa/''Kanossa'') or the Road to Canossa, was the ritual submission of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV to Pope Gregory VII ...
Science
Richard Honeck described three forms of scientific metaphors: "mixed scientific metaphor, the scientific metaphor theme, and the scientific metaphor that redefines a concept from a theory."[Honeck, Richard P. (1980]
''Cognition and figurative language''
pp.405-417
*1959 Valency (linguistics), by Lucien Tesnière, from Valence (chemistry) (1789, by William Higgins (chemist), William Higgins)
*1973 Anti-Oedipus#Terminology borrowed from science .28scientific metaphors.29, Inductor, by Deleuze and Guattari, from Electromagnetic induction (1831, by Michael Faraday)
*1980 Rhizome (philosophy), by Deleuze and Guattari, from botanical rhizome
Sport
*Baseball metaphors for sex
*Carnoustie effect
*Doing a Leeds
*Face-off
*False start
*False start, Jump the Gun
*Media scrum
*Own goal
*Pole position
*Political football
*Par for the course
Various
*Aesopian language
*Apollo archetype
*Bad apples
*Battle of egos
*Betamax
*Bīja
*Black-and-white dualism
*Bootstrapping
*Cabin fever
*Cherry picking (fallacy)
*Nuclear meltdown, China Syndrome
*City on a Hill
*Closeted
*Coming out
*Drunkard's search
*Enchanted loom
*Endianness
*Fatted calf
*Five wisdoms
*Gates of horn and ivory
*Gold in the mine
*Gordian Knot
*Greek to me
*Green shoots
*Hue and cry
*Hungry ghost
*Indra's net
*Iron (metaphor)
*Jungle
*Kōan
*Late bloomer
*List of scientific metaphors
*McNamara fallacy
*Mindstream
*Moral compass
*Musical chairs
*The Myth of Sisyphus
*Neurathian bootstrap
*Nutshell
*Panopticon gaze
*Female body shape, Pear-shaped
*Post turtle
*The price of milk
*Ignoratio elenchi
*Invincible ignorance fallacy
*Red pill and blue pill
*Representation (systemics)
*Roof of the World
*Salad days
*Salt and Light
*Ship of state
*Son of a gun
*Survival of the fittest
*Teaching grandmother to suck eggs
*Technical debt
*Touchstone (metaphor)
*Tragedy of the commons
*Tunnel vision
*Unmarked grave
*Yin and yang
*New Testament military metaphors
*New Testament athletic metaphors
War
*Catch-22 (logic)
*Double edged sword
*Dry powder
*Fog of war
*No-win situation
*Pyrrhic victory
*Saber noise
*Shareholder rights plan
*Shooting the messenger
*Smoking gun
*Texas sharpshooter fallacy
*War chest
*Win-win game
Lists
*List of political metaphors
**:Political metaphors referring to people
*:Metaphors by reference
References
;Further reading
*
*
*
* {{cite web , url=http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/indoc_term.htm , title=Service Jargon , author=Naval Air Station Jacksonville , date=1942 , work= 9780070328778A-V(S) Indoctrination School , publisher=Department of the Navy , accessdate=June 17, 2010
Metaphors