The workbench / The reference library
Suggest a wordMy library
The vocabulary collection

synecdoche.

Noun
Technical
MEANING

A figure of speech that uses a part to stand for a whole, or a whole to stand for a part.

Use it for

hands standing for workers; a part naming a larger entity; compressed reference through a part-whole relation; imagery distinguished from a merely associated name

Words that belong together

  • a synecdoche for workers
  • rhetorical synecdoche

On the page

Calling the workers hands was synecdoche that exposed the owner’s priorities.
She revised the synecdoche when it made the people seem interchangeable with their labor.

Nearby words

part-whole substitution

Related words

part-whole figuresynecdochicmetonymy (broader in some theories)
Word forms
Base
synecdoche

Usage notes

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

Practice this word in a sentence

Your margin notes

Keep a thought for later. Sign in to save privately.