metonym.

An expression used in place of something closely associated with what it literally names.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a political metonym
• the crown as metonym

On the page

The crown became a metonym for authority throughout the account.

She replaced the institutional metonym with the names of the people responsible.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: Singular metonym; plural metonyms. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.