metaphor(n = noun.communication) - a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity;
is a kind of figure, figure of speech, image, trope
has particulars: dead metaphor, frozen metaphor, mixed metaphor, synesthetic metaphor
Derived forms adjective metaphoric₁, adjective metaphorical₁

   The transference of the relation between one set of objects to another set for the purpose of brief explanation; a compressed simile; e. g., the ship plows the sea. Shak. [1913 Webster]
" The statement, “that man is a fox,” is a metaphor; but “that man is like a fox,” is a simile, similitude, or comparison." [1913 Webster]

metaphor, n.
1 the application of a name or descriptive term or phrase to an object or action to which it is imaginatively but not literally applicable (e.g. a glaring error).
2 an instance of this.

Derivative:
metaphoric adj. metaphorical adj. metaphorically adv.

Etymology:
F m{eacute}taphore or L metaphora f. Gk metaphora f. metaphero transfer

N  substitution, commutation, supplanting, metaphor, metonymy, substitute, ersatz, makeshift, temporary expedient, replacement, succedaneum, shift, pis aller, stopgap, jury rigging, jury mast, locum tenens, warming pan, dummy, scapegoat, double, changeling, quid pro quo, alternative, representative, palimpsest, price, purchase money, consideration, equivalent, substituted, ersatz, phony, vicarious, subdititious, instead, in place of, in lieu of, in the stead of, in the room of, faute de mieux.

N  analogy, association, association of ideas, metaphor, analogical thinking, free association, train of thought, analogical.

N  metaphor, figure of speech, facon de parler, way of speaking, colloquialism, phrase, figure, trope, metaphor, enallage, catachresis, metonymy, synecdoche, autonomasia, irony, figurativeness, image, imagery, metalepsis, type, anagoge, simile, personification, prosopopoeia, allegory, apologue, parable, fable, allusion, adumbration, application, exaggeration, hyperbole, association, association of ideas (analogy), metaphorical, figurative, catachrestical, typical, tralatitious, parabolic, allegorical, allusive, anagogical, ironical, colloquial, tropical, so to speak, so to say, so to express oneself, as it were, mutato nomine de te fabula narratur, metaphor, figure of speech, facon de parler, way of speaking, colloquialism, phrase, figure, trope, metaphor, enallage, catachresis, metonymy, synecdoche, autonomasia, irony, figurativeness, image, imagery, metalepsis, type, anagoge, simile, personification, prosopopoeia, allegory, apologue, parable, fable, allusion, adumbration, application, exaggeration, hyperbole, association, association of ideas (analogy), metaphorical, figurative, catachrestical, typical, tralatitious, parabolic, allegorical, allusive, anagogical, ironical, colloquial, tropical, so to speak, so to say, so to express oneself, as it were, mutato nomine de te fabula narratur.

dead metaphor, frozen metaphor, mixed metaphor, synesthetic metaphor