Metaphor List, Examples of Metaphors
Welcome to the biggest list of metaphors online. Feel free to click on your favorite (or most hated) metaphor and tell us what you think about it.
Abandon: The team decided to abandon the project.
Aged: This joke is aging quickly.
Agenda: They carried out their agenda.
Aim: Condoleezza Rice launched a diplomatic effort aimed at ending the war.
Airhead: Don’t be such an airhead!
Anarchy: It’s anarchy on the freeway today!
Appetite: Children have an enormous appetite for learning.
Apple: Apple of my eye
Atmosphere: The atmosphere was highly charged.
Attack: She attacked his character.
Autumn: They had entered their autumn years.
Bait: He was trying to bait her into debate.
Bake: It was a half-baked idea.
Barren: His face was a barren landscape of sorrow, parted by rivers of tears.
Base: A play based on a poorly written book by Gaston.
Baste: He basted her with flattery to get the job.
Battle: Life is a constant battle.
Battlefield: Love is a battlefield.
Battleground: The senate has become the battleground for stem cell lobbyists.
Beacon: A beacon for fellow workers.
Bear Fruit: Alice was thrilled when her idea began to bear fruit.
Beast: Fear is a beast that feeds on attention
Being: The point being.
Benchmark: The benchmark 30-year T-bill.
Beseiged: She was besieged by the papparazzi.
Binding: A legally binding contract.
Bite: His words had a little bite to them.
Bittersweet: Bittersweet memories.
Blackest: The blackest thoughts of men.
Bland: Her presentation was a little bland.
Blanket: A blanket of snow fell through the night.
Blizzard: There was a blizzard of activity at the emergency room.
Blockade: The Senator’s attempt to blockade the vote was seen was seen as a feeble attempt to raise his profile.
Blossom/Bloom: She had blossomed overnight, going from stinkweed to rose with but one sip of potion.
Blow: You’ll be blown away!
Blue: When you’re feelin’ blue.
Boil: The boss was boiling mad.
Boiling: Boiling mad.
Boiling: Boiling landscape.
Bombard: He was bombarded with questions.
Bombshell: She was hit by the bombshell that her boyfriend was married.
Bombshell: Blond bombshell
Bond: They had a spiritual bond between them.
Bottom: The teacher got to the bottom of the problem.
Bottom Feeder: He’s nothing but a bottom feeding letch!
Boundaries: Sports rules set the boundaries of fair play.
Bowels: In the bowels of the ship.
Brand: The band bleated out their own brand of country music.
Breaking: Breaking news.
Breeze: This homework is a breeze.
Brick Wall: He was hitting his head against a brick wall.
Bright: A bright idea.
Brilliant: A brilliant idea!
Bubbles: Her bubbly personality.
Bucking: Bucking for a raise.
Bud: Their relationship had begun to bud again, after a long and desolate winter.
Bumper Crop: A bumper crop of stories have sprouted from this news leak.
Burnt: Burned by a shady deal.
Bursting: Bursting with flavor!
Cage: His mind was caged by depression.
Campaign: She led the campaign for student housing.
Catch: Did you catch the big game on Tuesday?
Catch: She’s quite a catch!
Cats & Dogs: It is raining cats and dogs
Ceasefire: The couple agreed to a ceasefire over whose family they would visit for Thanksgiving.
Chew: You’ve given me something to chew on!
Chilly: It’s been a little chilly around the office since Mr.
Choose: An electron chooses the path of least resistance.
Clam: The suspect clammed up when the police began to ask him questions.
Clear Skies: It’s gonna’ be clear skies from now on.
Cloud: The event was clouded over by protests.
Cloudy: My memory is a little cloudy.
Coarse: He had a coarse manner of speech.
Cold: A cold reception.
Collide: Their philosophies would eventually collide.
Colorful: A colorful remark.
Come Up: We’ll see if any new job listings come up.
Comfort: I’m comfortable with my decision.
Cook: He knew he was cooked when he saw his boss standing at the desk.
Crop: A new crop of students entered the classroom.
Crossfire: He was caught in the crossfire of his friends’ disagreement.
Darken: The skies of his future began to darken.
Dawn: The dawn of civilization.
Dead: I’m dead tired
Deep: Deep despair.
Defense: Your claims are indefensible.
Demolish: I demolished his argument.
Depth: Deep thoughts.
Determine: The clouds are just determined to ruin our picnic!
Diamond In The Rough: That gymnast is a diamond in the rough.
Digest: Take a moment to digest the info.
Dim: A dim view.
Direction: She sought a new direction in her life.
Dish: Dish out more criticism than one can take.
Division: Cell division.
Doorway: Your browser is your doorway to the internet.
Drift: He was a drifter, of origin unknown.
Dry Spell: Business suffered a long dry spell.
Dud: His hot date turned out to be a dud.
Dying: I’m dying to meet her.
Edge: She had returned from the edge of death.
Embark: They were about to embark on a journey of the soul.
Energy: There was an energy about them.
Exist, Existing: Such attitudes exist, but are becoming rare.
Faded: He faded off to sleep.
Farm: Adam joined the Boston Celtics farm team.
Fast Lane: Life in the fast lane.
Fertile: He has a fertile imagination.
Fever: A feverish pace.
Fire: There’s a fire in my heart and you fan it.
Firestorm: There was a firestorm of controversy surrounding the president’s statements.
Fish: There are plenty of other fish in the sea.
Fish: The con artist managed to fish in another victim, hook, line and sinker.
Flame: I was flamed on a message board.
Flame: His old flame contacted him hoping to rekindle their romance.
Flank: The senator received universal criticism from both flanks, Republican and Democratic alike.
Flight: The business was about to take flight.
Flower: She was a flower, young and beautiful, bending gently in the ever changing winds of youth.
Fog: My memory is a little foggy.
Food: Food for thought.
Footsteps: She followed in her mothers’ footsteps.
Foxhole: After the vote the senator headed for its foxholes, afraid of the result voting against his constituency would have.
freedom: Freedom of expression.
Front lines: The organization works at the front lines of the war on drugs.
Frozen: Frozen with fear.
Fruit: His ideas began to bear fruit.
Fry: She knew she was fried when the teacher handed back her paper.
Gateway: Education is a gateway to success.
Glow: A glowing review.
Grandfather: The rights on the property were grandfathered to the new owner.
Grate: Her voice is beginning to grate on me.
Gravity: The gravity of the matter drew his undivided interest.
green: That new worker is pretty green.
Grey: Only shades of grey.
Grey skies: Grey skies are gonna’ clear up!
Grill: The lawyer grilled the witness on the stand.
Grit: The author’s gritty style.
Grow/growth: The markets experienced considerable growth until plagued by profiteering.
Gust: Criticism began to gust in from all sides.
Hail: A hail of bullets.
Harnessed: To harness the power of the sun.
Harvest: She decided to harvest her investment a few weeks early.
Hatch: Helen and Maria hatched a plan to help Maria become president of her class.
Hazy: Plans are still a little hazy.
Heat: Heated debate.
Height: The height of one’s career.
Hook: The teen spent two years in rehab, after having been hooked on phonics as a child.
Hook: The song “Who Let The Dogs Out” had a successful hook.
Horse: A riverboat shall be my horse
Hot: I’m so hot for her.
Hub: The CPU is the central hub of the computer.
Icy: An icy stare.
Idols: Words are false idols
Infant: The Iraq democracy is in its infancy.
Join the ranks: Clinton decided to join the ranks of foreign policy critics.
Kindle: They were kindling a new romance.
Land: The salesman tried to land a contract with the client.
Launch: Condoleezza Rice launched a diplomatic effort aimed at ending the war.
Light: You light up my life.
Light: The light of reason.
Light: The classmates had a light conversation.
Lightening rod: He became a lightening rod for party criticism.
Lion: He has the heart of a lion
Listen: The world is listening.
Lure: The crier managed to lure in several new customers from off the street.
Market: He began to market himself as an author.
Misty: Misty, water-coloured memories.
Mother: Necessity is the mother of invention.
motion: Ideas in motion.
move, moving, movement: A moving speech.
Mull: She began to mull it over in her mind.
Music: The words were music to his ears.
Net: The police finally netted a bank robber after an intense search.
No-man’s land: Party moderates found themselves in a political no-man’s-land, with pro and con members battling around them.
Note: Leaving her house was the high note of the evening.
Palate: He found her behavior unpalatable.
Path: Following the path of enlightenment.
Peel: Keep your eyes peeled.
Pepper: His speech was peppered with vitriol.
Pick: Pick from our wide selection of clothing styles!
Pickle: That’s a real pickle of a problem.
Place: She had a special place in his heart.
Plant: The orator planted ideas in their fertile, young minds.
Plate: My plate is already too full.
platform: Political platform.
Plow/plough: We decided to plow through the bookkeeping.
Point: He had finally come to the point of conclusion.
position: One’s position on a political issue.
Powder keg: The court’s decision is sure to set off a powder keg of dissent among defense supporters.
Power: You’ve got the power!
Rain: Into each life some rain must fall.
Rainbow: A rainbow of flavors.
Raw: She had a raw talent for music.
Recipe: A recipe for disaster.
Reek: That man reeks of infidelity!
Reel in: The con artist managed to reel in another victim.
Ring: Her words rang true.
Ripe: He allowed the moment to ripen before asking for her hand in marriage.
Road: On the road to peace.
Roast: A celebrity roast.
rock: The guy is a rock.
Room: A child needs room to grow.
Roots: His roots ran deep in the region.
Rough: I hear you’re feeling rough!
Salvo: The opposition’s speech was the opening salvo of an attack on foreign policy.
Scream: Her outfit screamed “Help me, I lack taste!”
Sea: Drowning in the sea of ideas.
Season: It is the season of change.
secreted: He secreted the fact that he was a Republican.
See: I fail to see your logic.
Seed: The doctor explained that her insides were a rocky place, where my seed could find no purchase.
Serve: Served up a number of suggestions.
Shade: A shady character.
Shell: He had become a shell of a man.
Shining: A shining example of democracy.
Shoot: He shot down all of my arguments.
Shower: He showered her with gifts.
Silk: His silken lies went unheard.
Simmer: The crowd began to simmer down.
Singe: Feel the singe of rejection.
Sister: The company had a sister factory in Trenton.
Smooth: Things are going smoothly.
Snag: The project hit a snag and was put on hold.
Soft: Her soft voice was music to his ears.
Soil: The soil of a man’s heart is stonier!
Sour: End on a sour note.
Sow: He sowed the seeds of discontent among the staff.
Spectrum: An infinite spectrum of possibilities.
Spicy: A spicy new outfit.
Spinning: His head was spinning with excitement.
Spotlight: Mary stole the spotlight with her performance.
Sprout: After the phone call, a smile could be seen sprouting from the edges of his lips.
stable, stability: A stable economy.
steady: A steady rhythm.
steer: Steer clear of that topic.
Stench: The stench of failure.
Stew: The decision had him in a stew.
Stink: Love stinks!
Stir: Stirring up all kinds of emotions.
Stone: A heart of stone
Storm: She was unsure if her proposal could weather the storm of scrutiny.
Storm: Thoughts are a storm.
stubborn: Stubborn stains!
Sugar: Give me a little sugar, honey!
Sun: You are the sun in my sky
Sunset: He’d entered his sunset years.
Sunshine: You are the sunshine of my life.
Swallow: Difficult to swallow.
Sweet: Ain’t she sweet.
Sweet: The sweet smell of success.
Target: His criticisms were right on target.
Taste: You have great taste in furniture!
Tasty: Tasty tidbits of information.
Tepid: A tepid speech.
Thaw: Relations between the two countries began to thaw.
Thunder: The boss thundered into the room.
Time Bomb: The new policy is considered a political time bomb for the conservative government.
Toast: He knew he was going to be toast when he got home.
transition: A transitional government is in effect.
travel: We’ll travel down that road (of conversation) another time.
Troops: Greenpeace called in the troops to protest the whale hunt.
Truce: The neighbors agreed to a truce over their barbeque dispute.
Twilight: He entered his twilight years a broken man.
Under fire: The president has been under fire for his veto of the stem cell bill.
Velvet: The velvet voice of Bing Crosby.
War zone: The courtroom had become a war zone.
Warm: A warm reception.
Water: Ideas are water
Weather: His face was weathered by a long, troubled life.
Weighty: A weighty subject.
Whirlwind: It was a whirlwind romance that spun out of control.
Win: I’ve never won an argument with him.
Wind: The winds of change.
Window: Tolerance is the window to peace.
Winter: She entered a spiritual winter.
Wrapped: The detective had wrapped up the mystery.
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