FIGURE OF SPEECH
FIGURE OF SPEECH, also figure. In RHETORIC, a device that achieves a special effect by using words in distinctive ways, such as ALLITERATION, in which the same sound, especially an initial consonant, is repeated, as with /f/ in life's fitful fever, and HYPERBOLE, in which one engages, usually deliberately, in unrealistic exaggeration, as in the informal phrase tons of money (‘a great deal of money’). Here, a word usually associated with weights and measures has been moved out of context to refer to money, with which it is not normally associated. See FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.
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figure , fig·ure / ˈfigyər/ • n. 1. a number, esp. one that forms part of official statistics or relates to the financial performance of a company: official c… Figured Bass , figured bass, in music, a system of shorthand notation in which figures are written below the notes of the bass part to indicate the chords to be pla… canzone , canzone •abalone, Albinoni, Annigoni, Antonioni, baloney, Bodoni, boloney, bony, calzone, cannelloni, canzone, cicerone, coney, conversazione, corona… Zamboanga , Zamboanga •blagger, bragger, dagger, flagger, Jagger, lagger, nagger, quagga, saggar, shagger, stagger, swagger •alga, realgar, Trafalgar •anger, cla… Braga , Braga •blagger, bragger, dagger, flagger, Jagger, lagger, nagger, quagga, saggar, shagger, stagger, swagger •alga, realgar, Trafalgar •anger, clangou… Speech , Speech
Many animals make sounds that might seem to be a form of speech. For example, one may sound an alarm that a predator is in the area. The sound…
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