figure of speech

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figure of speech

Poetic, imaginative, or ornamental expression used for comparison, emphasis, or stylistic effect. These figures include euphemism, hyperbole, metaphor, metonymy, onomatopoeia, oxymoron, personification, pun, simile, synecdoche, and zeugma.

The list of such figures is usually based on one dating from discussions of literary and rhetorical style in Greece in the 5th century BC.

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? References in classic literature

"No; that was only imaginative -- I might say, a figure of speech," said the other.

The Marvelous Land of Oz by Baum, L. Frank View in context

Had she used a figure of speech in saying that she was as poor as Mirabel himself?

I Say No by Collins, Wilkie View in context

I must rank pretty low in the consideration of Dejah Thoris, I thought; but I could not help laughing at the strange figure of speech, so homely and in this respect so earthly.

A Princess of Mars by Burroughs, Edgar Rice View in context

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