Definition of Figure of speech

1. Noun. Language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense.

Exact synonyms: Figure, Image, Trope
Examples of language type: Cakewalk, Blind Alley, Blockbuster, Megahit, Smash Hit, Sleeper, Bell Ringer, Bull's Eye, Home Run, Mark, Housecleaning, Goldbrick, Lens, Domino Effect, Flip Side, Period, Summer, Dawn, Evening, Rainy Day
Generic synonyms: Rhetorical Device
Specialized synonyms: Conceit, Irony, Exaggeration, Hyperbole, Kenning, Metaphor, Metonymy, Oxymoron, Personification, Prosopopoeia, Simile, Synecdoche, Zeugma
Derivative terms: Tropical



Definition of Figure of speech

1. Noun. (idiomatic) A word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Figure Of Speech Pictures

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Lexicographical Neighbors of Figure Of Speech

figure
figure-of-8 abnormality
figure-of-8 bandage
figure-of-8 suture
figure-of-eight
figure-of-eights
figure-of-speech
figure and ground
figure dash
figure dashes
figure eights
figure loom
figure of eight
figure of merit
figure of speech (current term)
figure out
figure poem
figure skate
figure skater
figure skaters
figure skating
figure space
figured
figured-fabric loom
figured out
figuredly
figurehead
figureheads

Literary usage of Figure of speech

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Elements of Criticism by Henry Home Kames (1870)
"Figure of Speech. 534. IN the section immediately foregoing, a figure of speech ... In this respect, a figure of speech is precisely similar to concordant ..."

2. Southern Literary Messenger (1849)
"... of course, a mere figure of speech ; and from the class of modern authors who use really nothing to write with but steel and gold, some, no doubt, ..."

3. Crabb's English Synonyms by George Crabb (1917)
"In the moral acceptance loathe is a strong figure of speech to mark the abhorrence and disgust which the sieht or thought of offensive objects produces. ..."

4. The Theological and Literary Journal (1856)
"... indeed, by a very bold figure of speech the body might be said to be asleep, even as we might figuratively speak of the seed as asleep. ..."

Other Resources Relating to: Figure of speech

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