noun
- a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole or the whole represents a part
Usage: rhetoric; literary
Examples
- In ‘all hands on deck,’ the word ‘hands’ is a synecdoche for sailors.
- The phrase ‘nice wheels’ uses synecdoche to refer to a car.
- When we say ‘the White House announced,’ we use synecdoche for the president’s administration.
- ‘Bread’ in ‘daily bread’ is a synecdoche for food in general.
- The poet used synecdoche when writing ‘gray beards’ to mean old men.
- ‘Suits’ referring to business executives is an example of synecdoche.