synecdoche
Figure of speech that uses either the part to represent the whole (‘There were some new faces at the meeting’, rather than new people), or the whole to stand for the part (‘The West Indies beat England at cricket’, using the country to stand for the national teams in question).
The figure differs from metonymy; in synecdoche the substituted word actually forms part of the whole rather than just being associated with the original, but the term metonymy is often used to refer to both figures of speech.
How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
| ?Page tools | ||
|---|---|---|
|
?Sign in  |
|---|