DEAD METAPHOR
(noun)Did you mean?
Definitions
There is 1 meaning of the phrase
Dead Metaphor.
Dead Metaphor - as a noun
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')
Synonyms (Exact Relations)
frozen metaphorExample Sentences
"Shakespeare is often cited as the king of dead metaphors."
"The phrase 'kick the bucket' is a classic example of a dead metaphor."
"The dead metaphor 'raining cats and dogs' is used to describe heavy rain."
"Many dead metaphors have become such a part of everyday speech, we no longer realize they were once metaphors."
"The English language is filled with dead metaphors that have lost their original figurative meaning."
