Definitions for dead metaphor
dead metaphor

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. dead metaphor, frozen metaphornoun

   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')

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. dead metaphornoun

   A former metaphor which has in effect lost its metaphorical status and become literal, e.g. "electric current" (electricity was at first thought to be analogous to water). Not to be confused with stale metaphor (a type of cliché), although it often is.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. dead metaphor

   A dead metaphor is a figure of speech that has lost its original imagery due to frequent use, making it seem like ordinary language. As a result, its metaphoric sense is not recognised immediately, often because the literal meaning has replaced or overshadowed the figurative one.

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Dead metaphor

   A dead metaphor is a metaphor which has lost the original imagery of its meaning owing to extensive, repetitive popular usage. Because dead metaphors have a conventional meaning that differs from the original, they can be understood without knowing their earlier connotation. Dead metaphors are generally the result of a semantic shift in the evolution of a language. A distinction is often made between those dead metaphors whose origins are entirely unknown to the majority of people using them and those whose source is widely known or symbolism easily understood but not often thought about. There is debate among literary scholars whether so-called "dead metaphors" are dead or are metaphors. Literary scholar R.W. Gibbs noted that for a metaphor to be dead, it would necessarily lose the metaphorical qualities that it comprises. These qualities, however, still remain. A person can understand the expression "falling head-over-heels in love" even if they have never encountered that variant of the phrase "falling in love." Analytic philosopher Max Black argued that the dead metaphor should not be considered a metaphor at all, but rather classified as a separate vocabulary item. If the verb "to plough" retained the simple meaning of "to turn up the earth with a plough," then the idea of a car "ploughing through traffic" would clearly be a metaphor. The expression would be a comparison between the motion of the plough cutting through the soil and a car speeding through traffic. In order to understand it, one would need to grasp the comparison. However, "to plough" has taken on an additional meaning of "to move in a fast and uncontrolled manner," and so to say that a car "ploughed through the traffic" is a literal statement. No knowledge of the original metaphorical symbolism is necessary to understanding the statement.

Matched Categories

1. • Metaphor

How to pronounce dead metaphor?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say dead metaphor in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of dead metaphor in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of dead metaphor in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=dead metaphor
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Dead_Metaphor
3. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
4. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=dead metaphor