-
Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that directly refers to one thing by mentioning another for rhetorical effect. It may provide clarity or identify hidden similarities between two ideas. Antithesis, hyperbole, metonymy and simile are all types of metaphor. One of the most commonly cited examples of a metaphor in English literature is the “All the world’s a stage” monologue from As You Like It:
This quotation expresses a metaphor because the world is not literally a stage. By asserting that the world is a stage, Shakespeare uses points of comparison between the world and a stage to convey an understanding about the mechanics of the world and the behavior of the people within it.
The Philosophy of Rhetoric (1937) by rhetorician I. A. Richards describes a metaphor as having two parts: the tenor and the vehicle. The tenor is the subject to which attributes are ascribed. The vehicle is the object whose attributes are borrowed. In the previous example, “the world” is compared to a stage, describing it with the attributes of “the stage”; “the world” is the tenor, and “a stage” is the vehicle; “men and women” is the secondary tenor, and “players” is the secondary vehicle.
Other writers employ the general terms ground and figure to denote the tenor and the vehicle. Cognitive linguistics uses the terms target and source, respectively.
-
Metaphor (noun)
The use of a word or phrase to refer to something that it is not, invoking a direct similarity between the word or phrase used and the thing described (but in the case of English without the words like or as, which would imply a simile); the word or phrase used in this way; an implied comparison.
-
Metaphor (noun)
The use of an everyday object or concept to represent an underlying facet of the computer and thus aid users in performing tasks.
“desktop metaphor; wastebasket metaphor”
-
Metaphor (verb)
To use a metaphor.
-
Metaphor (verb)
To describe by means of a metaphor.
-
Abstract (noun)
An abridgement or summary of a longer publication. First attested around 1350 to 1470.page=10
-
Abstract (noun)
Something that concentrates in itself the qualities of a larger item, or multiple items. First attested in the mid 16th century.
-
Abstract (noun)
Concentrated essence of a product.
-
Abstract (noun)
An abstract term; that which is abstract. First attested in the mid 16th century.
-
Abstract (noun)
The theoretical way of looking at things; something that exists only in idealized form. First attested in the early 17th century.
-
Abstract (noun)
An abstract work of art. First attested in the early 20th century.
-
Abstract (noun)
A summary title of the key points detailing a tract of land, for ownership; abstract of title.
-
Abstract (adjective)
Derived; extracted. Attested from around 1350 to 1470 until the late 15th century.
-
Abstract (adjective)
Drawn away; removed from; apart from; separate. First attested around 1350 to 1470.
-
Abstract (adjective)
Expressing a property or attribute separately of an object that is considered to be inherent to that object. First attested around 1350 to 1470.
-
Abstract (adjective)
Considered apart from any application to a particular object; not concrete; ideal; non-specific; general, as opposed to specific. First attested around 1350 to 1470.
-
Abstract (adjective)
Difficult to understand; abstruse; hard to conceptualize. First attested around 1350 to 1470.
-
Abstract (adjective)
Absent-minded. First attested in the early 16th century.
-
Abstract (adjective)
Pertaining to the formal aspect of art, such as the lines, colors, shapes, and the relationships among them. First attested in the mid 19th century.
-
Abstract (adjective)
Free from representational qualities, in particular the non-representational styles of the 20th century. First attested in the mid 19th century.
-
Abstract (adjective)
Absolute.
-
Abstract (adjective)
Insufficiently factual.page=8
-
Abstract (adjective)
Apart from practice or reality; vague; theoretical; impersonal; not applied.
-
Abstract (adjective)
As a noun, denoting an intangible as opposed to an object, place, or person.
-
Abstract (adjective)
Of a class in object-oriented programming, being a partial basis for subclasses rather than a complete template for objects.
-
Abstract (verb)
To separate; to disengage. First attested around 1350 to 1470.
-
Abstract (verb)
To remove; to take away; withdraw. First attested in the late 15th century.
-
Abstract (verb)
To steal; to take away; to remove without permission. First attested in the late 15th century.
-
Abstract (verb)
To summarize; to abridge; to epitomize. First attested in the late 16th century.
-
Abstract (verb)
To extract by means of distillation. Attested from the early 17th century until the early 18th century.
-
Abstract (verb)
To consider abstractly; to contemplate separately or by itself; to consider theoretically; to look at as a general quality. First attested in the early 17th century.
-
Abstract (verb)
To withdraw oneself; to retire. First attested in the mid 17th century.
-
Abstract (verb)
To draw off (interest or attention).
“He was wholly abstracted by other objects.”
-
Abstract (verb)
To perform the process of abstraction.
-
Abstract (verb)
To create abstractions.
-
Abstract (verb)
To produce an abstraction, usually by refactoring existing code. Generally used with “out”.
“He abstracted out the square root function.”
-
Metaphor (noun)
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable
“her poetry depends on suggestion and metaphor”
“when we speak of gene maps and gene mapping, we use a cartographic metaphor”
-
Metaphor (noun)
a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else
“the amounts of money being lost by the company were enough to make it a metaphor for an industry that was teetering”