Cliche vs. Metaphor

A stereotype plate or any similar reproduction of ornament, or lettering, in relief.

a trite or obvious remark.

a trite or obvious remark

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.

The use of an everyday object or concept to represent an underlying facet of the computer and thus aid users in performing tasks.

Example: ‘desktop metaphor; wastebasket metaphor’;

(intransitive) To use a metaphor.

(transitive) To describe by means of a metaphor.

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.

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

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable

Example: ‘her poetry depends on suggestion and metaphor’; ‘when we speak of gene maps and gene mapping, we use a cartographic metaphor’;

a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else

Example: ‘the amounts of money being lost by the company were enough to make it a metaphor for an industry that was teetering’;

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.