METAPHOR EXAMPLES

A metaphor is a word or phrase that is used to make a comparison between two things. They can be very useful, and we use them all the time in daily conversation, and we do not even realize it! Let’s look at a few examples with a list of metaphors in various situations:

Examples of Metaphors for Love

• Love is a nutrient
• Love is a journey
• Love is a fluid in a container
• Love is fire
• Love is an economic exchange
• Love is a natural force
• Love is a physical force
• Love is a captive animal
• Love is war
• Love is a social superior
• Love is rapture
• Love is a thrill ride
• Love is a fine wine
• Love is a garden
• Love is a battlefield
• Love is an experiment
• Love is a fragile flower opening to the warmth of spring
• Love is a lemon – either bitter or sweet

Examples of Metaphor from Famous People

• “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” – Pablo Picasso
• “Conscience is a man’s compass.” – Vincent Van Gogh
• “Chaos is a friend of mine.” – Bob Dylan
• “All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.” – Albert Einstein

Examples of Common Metaphors

Anger bottled up inside	He was a Lion on the battlefield	Scapegoat
A shot across the bows	High and dry	Sea of bees
An endless night	His eye on the Sparrow	Sea of fire
Apple of my eye	Home was prison	Sea of ghosts
Batten down the hatches	Homework is a breeze	Sea of knowledge
Battle of egos	House of cards	Sea of love
Belling the cat	Hungry ghost	Sea of sadness
Belt was a snake	Ideas are water	Sea of smiles
Better half	Ideas are wings	Sea of sorrows
Birds of a feather flock together	Ideas in motion	Sea of umbrellas
Blanket of air	Infinite crisis	Sea of uncertainty
Blanket of bullets	Infinite spectrum of possibilities	Shades of excellence
Blanket of clouds	Intimate relationship	Shades of hope
Blanket of exemption	Jumping the shark	Shake a leg
Blanket of flowers	Know the ropes	Shaking the dust from the feet
Blanket of ghosts	Law of the horse	She felt her gorge rising
Blanket of hope	Legs were wax	Shipshape and Bristol fashion
Blanket of indifference	Life is a journey	Shiver my timbers
Blanket of insurance	Life is a mere dream	Shooting the messenger
Blanket of love	Light of my life	Shot down an idea
Blanket of roses	Loose cannon	Silken lies
Blanket of secrecy	Love is a battlefield	Simmer down!
Blanket of snow	Love is a bond	Slippery slope
Blanket of stars	Love is a camera, full of memories	Smell of death
Blow one’s trumpet	Love is a fine wine	Smell of fear
Boiling frog	Love is a garden	Smell of rain
Boiling mad	Love is a growing garland	Smoking gun
Broken heart	Love is a journey	Snake oil
Butterfly economics	Love is a thrill ride	Social organizations are plants
Cabin fever	Love is an experiment	Spherical cow
Camel’s nose	Love is an ocean	Stable economy
Choices are crossroads	Melting pot	Stable marriage problem
Close quarters	Moral compass	Standing on the shoulders of giants
Cloudy memory	Necessity is the mother of invention	Sticky wicket
Cold feet	Night was falling	Storm of swords
Consumed by love	Night owl	Strength and dignity are her clothing
Copper-bottomed	Noisy neighbors	Stubborn stains
Cotton candy words	Noisy stomach	Sweet dreams
Couch potato	On your beam ends	Sweet smell of success
Crop of students	Panic stations	Tell it to the marines
Deep dark secret	Path of exile	The bitter end
Disaster area	Path of glory	The cut of your jib
Domino effect	Peace of mind	The evening of one’s life
Early bird	Plain sailing	The sea bit my ankles
Eyes were fireflies	Point of no return	Their ideas are difficult to swallow
Eyes were saucers	Profits fell last year	Thoughts are a storm, unexpected
Flogging a dead horse	Puppet government	Three sheets to the wind
Food for thought	Push the boat out	Tiger Cub Economies
Fork in the road	Rainbow of challenges	Time a thief
Full to the gunwales	Rainbow of flavors	Turkeys voting for Christmas
Give a wide berth	Rainbow of hope	Walk the plank
Go by the board	Rainbow of love	Wave of donations
Hand over fist	Raining cats and dogs	Wheels of justice
Hard and fast	Reality an enemy	Work has dried up
He got all steamed up	Rug Rats

Examples of Popular Metaphors

• “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” – William Shakespeare
• “I am the good shepherd…and I lay down my life for the sheep.” – The Bible, John 10:14-15
• “All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.” – Khalil Gibran
• “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” – Marcel Proust
• “And your very flesh shall be a great poem.” – Walt Whitman
• “Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket.” – George Orwell
• “Dying is a wild night and a new road.” – Emily Dickinson
• “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” – William Wordsworth

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