DEAD METAPHOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dead metaphor mean? 

• DEAD METAPHOR (noun)
  The noun DEAD METAPHOR has 1 sense:

1. a metaphor that has occurred so often that it has become a new meaning of the expression (e.g., 'he is a snake' may once have been a metaphor but after years of use it has died and become a new sense of the word 'snake')

  Familiarity information: DEAD METAPHOR used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEAD METAPHOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A metaphor that has occurred so often that it has become a new meaning of the expression (e.g., 'he is a snake' may once have been a metaphor but after years of use it has died and become a new sense of the word 'snake')

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

dead metaphor; frozen metaphor

Hypernyms ("dead metaphor" is a kind of...):

metaphor (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)