CONCISE DICTIONARY OF METAPHORS AND SIMILIES (POCKET SIZE)

Most speakers and writers use the terms metaphor and simile as if they mean exactly the same thing. But they are not! A simile is a metaphor, but not all metaphors are similes. A metaphor compares two things, and does so more directly without using as or like. For example, the shop was a little gold-mine. A simile compares (usually introduced by like or as) two things that are generally not alike--such as a line of migrant workers and a wave, or onion skins and a swarm of butterflies. Writers an