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# metaphor

noun (a metaphor, metaphors)

«metaphor» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A metaphor is a way of describing something by saying it IS something else, to show what it is like, without using «like» or «as»: «The classroom was a zoo» means it was wild and noisy. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metaphor/#m1)
2. A metaphor can be a thing or idea that stands for something else: a journey can be a metaphor for growing up. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metaphor/#m2)

### In the lessons

In English and poetry lessons (and reading tests), pupils find and explain metaphors and use them to make their own writing vivid: «Her eyes were stars», «Time is money», «He has a heart of stone». Many everyday phrases are hidden metaphors: «a sea of faces», «a storm of applause», «the apple of my eye». Phrases: use a metaphor, a metaphor for, an extended metaphor.

### Examples

- «The snow was a white blanket» is a metaphor. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metaphor/#x1)
- The poet uses a metaphor to compare life to a river. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metaphor/#x2)
- «He has a heart of gold» is a metaphor; he is very kind. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metaphor/#x3)
- Explain what the metaphor tells us about the character. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metaphor/#x4)
- «My brother is a couch potato» is a funny metaphor. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metaphor/#x5)
- Underline the metaphor in the second line. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metaphor/#x6)
- The storm in the story is a metaphor for her anger. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metaphor/#x7)
- «Time is a thief» is a metaphor, because time cannot really steal. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metaphor/#x8)

### Note

Countable: a metaphor, metaphors. Adjective: «metaphorical»; adverb «metaphorically» (not literally). Pronounced «MET-uh-for». The key trap: a metaphor says something IS something else; a simile compares using «like» or «as» («as brave as a lion», «ran like the wind»). Personification gives human actions to things («the wind whispered») and is a special kind of metaphor.

## In Jewish tradition

Interpretation: Commentators say the Torah and Sefer Yetzirah often use pictures from the body or the world to speak about God, who has no body. In the primary lessons: In English and poetry lessons (and reading tests), pupils find and explain metaphors and use them to make their own writing vivid: «Her eyes were stars», «Time is money», «He has a heart of stone». Many everyday phrases are hidden metaphors: «a sea of faces», «a storm of applause», «the apple of my eye». Phrases: use a metaphor, a metaphor for, an extended metaphor.

### Examples

- Depth \[note 15: עוֹמֶק ʽomeq ‘depth’ here is based on the metaphor of עֲמֻקָּה ʽamuqqah ‘deepness’ as a symbol of divine mystery, as found in Biblical poetry, ex. \[Job 11:8\], \[Psalms 64:7\], \[Ecclesiastes 7:24\]. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/#x1)

### Note

Countable: a metaphor, metaphors. Adjective: «metaphorical»; adverb «metaphorically» (not literally). Pronounced «MET-uh-for». The key trap: a metaphor says something IS something else; a simile compares using «like» or «as» («as brave as a lion», «ran like the wind»). Personification gives human actions to things («the wind whispered») and is a special kind of metaphor.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «metaphor» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/metaphor/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«metaphor» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/metaphor.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «metaphor» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«metaphor» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/metaphor.html) on Mova free.