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simile
SIMILE
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
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1998
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© Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information)
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SIMILE. A
FIGURE OF SPEECH, in which a more or less fanciful or unrealistic comparison is made, using
like or
as.
Some dogs are like wolves is a realistic comparison and not a simile, but
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold (Byron) is a simile because neither savagery nor the Assyrian is physically like a wolf. Everyday usage is rich in similes, many of them idiomatic: (1) With
like:
spread like wildfire,
sell like hot cakes,
like a fish out of water (said of a person uneasy in an unfamiliar situation). (2) With
as …
as: as
thick as thieves (of people cooperating closely),
as strong as an ox (of someone very strong). See
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE,
METAPHOR.
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Pre-facing simile vehicles in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's sonnets.(Critical essay)
Magazine article from: Style; 12/22/2005; ; 700+ words
; ...argues, but between "illustrative simile, and modeling simile or metaphor." It is the latter that...in a modeling than in an illustrative simile. The most effective and original modeling similes, as Eva Kittay explains, are those...
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"So stretched out huge in length": reading the extended simile.
Magazine article from: Style; 9/22/2001; ; 700+ words
; ...study of the extended simile may offer some insights...trope and genre. Homeric similes often interrupt a story...which examined the simile in relation to the literal...nature is what makes simile, and not metaphor...matter of implication, similes appear in a limited number...
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And now, similes as graceful as a sculpted sentence
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 6/16/1991; ; 700+ words
; ...have been examining similes, trying to analyze...winners in our Grand Simile Contest of 1991...combination of metaphor and simile that won Best of...more than 10,000 similes. The "graceful...at the scores of similes that were based upon...Every word of a simile has to be in the...
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 "WR News, Senior Edition (including Science Spin)")
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Stormy weather!(Skill: Use Similes and Metaphors)(Brief article)
Magazine article from: WR News, Senior Edition (including Science Spin); 3/16/2007; 700+ words
; ...You might want to use similes and metaphors to get your point across. A simile compares two things using...statement. Examples: Simile The yard looked like...witnessed. Be sure to use similes and metaphors to make...descriptive. Answer Key 1. simile, 2. metaphor, 3...
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Similes as slick as a watermelon seed
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 7/9/2000; ; 700+ words
; ...Today we are talking similes. The good ones combine...Take apart an effective simile, and you won't find...from the page of student similes: "Long separated by...editing would save that simile, but it serves to make the point. Keep your similes tight, and keep them...
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Winning Similes Keen As a Sharpened Eye
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 12/18/1994; ; 700+ words
; ...winners in the Great Simile Contest of 1994. In Section One, we sought similes for something having...judge this year's Great Simile Contest I set aside the...years. They knew a good simile when they hit one. Their...along - that the best similes come from keen observation...
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A simile is the explicit comp ...
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 11/9/2003; ; 700+ words
; ...compression. By contrast, the simile is a form of analogical...digressive impulse in similes that keeps extending...Breton). All good similes depend upon a certain...being compared. The simile asserts a likeness between...Pablo Neruda thinking in similes in his magisterial early...
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As Forlorn as a Mountain of Also-Ran Similes
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 11/7/1993; ; 700+ words
; The Great Simile Contest of 1993...contest sought similes for "slender...good, but the simile lacked oomph...10 stock"? Similes should have no...do not a good simile make. Most of the also-ran similes suffered for want...
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Similes that are `as serene as a snowman's smile'
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 6/2/1991; ; 700+ words
; ...in the contest to provide a simile for "serene." The winner...awarded a $25 prize for the best similes for slippery, serene, rough...send in more than 10,000 similes. Entries came from all over...of the elements that make a simile work. A simile should be compact...
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Similar similes.(Skill: Use Figurative Language)
Magazine article from: WR News, Senior Edition (including Science Spin); 12/1/2006; 587 words
; Similes are statements that...that best completes the simile. 1. Brian is as smart...that best completes the simile. 11. He is as skinny...a--. 15. Write a simile comparing someone or...include at least three similes.
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SIMILE
Book article from: Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
SIMILE. A FIGURE OF SPEECH , in which...realistic comparison and not a simile, but The Assyrian came down...on the fold (Byron) is a simile because neither savagery nor...Everyday usage is rich in similes, many of them idiomatic...
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simile
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
simile [Lat.,=likeness], in rhetoric...contains two straightforward similes: My love is like a red, red...tune. The epic, or Homeric, simile is an elaborate, formal, and sustained simile derived from those of Homer.
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epic simile
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature
epic simile, an extended simile which compares one composite action with another, often with a digressive effect; it originates in Homer , and was imitated by Virgil , Dante , and, in English, notably by Milton . It is frequently parodied by Fielding .
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LITERATURE
Book article from: Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
...deliberately arranged and controlled. It may be said that communication is impossible without artifice, yet there is a difference between the colloquial simile that someone is ‘as bold as brass’ and T. S. Eliot's simile
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Literary Style
Book article from: -Ologies and -Isms
...elaborate prose style invented by John Lyly c. 1580, characterized by bountiful figures of speech, Latinisms, extended similes, frequent antitheses, and highly involved syntax. 2. any similar ornate style of writing or speaking. Cf. Gongorism...
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