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# metaphor

«metaphor» in Mova's judaism dictionary: **a way of describing something by saying it IS something…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a metaphor, metaphors)

### meaning for a pupil

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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/#x1)
- «The snow was a white blanket» is a metaphor. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/#x2)
- The poet uses a metaphor to compare life to a river. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/#x3)
- «He has a heart of gold» is a metaphor; he is very kind. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/#x4)
- Explain what the metaphor tells us about the character. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/#x5)
- «My brother is a couch potato» is a funny metaphor. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/#x6)
- Underline the metaphor in the second line. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/#x7)
- The storm in the story is a metaphor for her anger. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/#x8)
- «Time is a thief» is a metaphor, because time cannot really steal. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/#x9)

### 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 the corpora

- [Poets paint pictures with words, and they have a few favourite tricks: the simile, the metaphor, personification and alliteration.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/46-poetry-simile-metaphor-personification-alliteration/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «metaphor» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/M/metaphor/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.