as in analogy
an elaborate or fanciful way of expressing something
"it's raining cats and dogs" is just a colorful metaphor and not a meteorological announcement
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Recent Examples of metaphor
The title track single recalls hitmakers like Anne Murray and Barbara Mandrell, except for the faint Auto-Tune ripples and an undisguised buckskin ‘Bama accent that brands an otherwise basic anti-fancy metaphor.
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Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 9 Apr. 2026
Adika used the metaphor, favored by this particular editor as well, that AI is like a sports car in terms of its speed.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 9 Apr. 2026
Subatomic particles, gravity wells and the beginning of the universe – these are difficult and mysterious concepts that are better understood with storytelling and metaphor.
—Regina G. Barber, NPR, 8 Apr. 2026
Glasswing — named after a butterfly with see-through wings as a metaphor for finding bugs in plain sight — is aimed at securing the world’s most critical software with the help of Anthropic’s new AI model.
—Zev Fima, CNBC, 8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for metaphor
Will Hermes, Rolling Stone, 9 Apr. 2026
Adika used the metaphor, favored by this particular editor as well, that AI is like a sports car in terms of its speed.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 9 Apr. 2026
Subatomic particles, gravity wells and the beginning of the universe – these are difficult and mysterious concepts that are better understood with storytelling and metaphor.
—Regina G. Barber, NPR, 8 Apr. 2026
Glasswing — named after a butterfly with see-through wings as a metaphor for finding bugs in plain sight — is aimed at securing the world’s most critical software with the help of Anthropic’s new AI model.
—Zev Fima, CNBC, 8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for metaphor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for metaphor
analogy
Noun
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This analogy came to life during the flyby, as the astronauts pointed out shades of browns and blues that can help reveal the mineral composition of a feature and its age, NASA said.—
Ava Berger,
NPR,
7 Apr. 2026
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The Manhattan Project analogy applied to employee recruitment, too.—
Ronan Farrow,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
Video
When Body Parts Are Also Verbs
Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes
Cite this Entry
“Metaphor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/metaphor. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
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