Dead metaphor

A dead metaphor is a metaphor that through overuse has lost figurative value. Examples of dead metaphors include:

• "understanding."
• "grasp an idea".
• "run out of time".
• " foot of a hill."
• "eye of a needle."
• "tie up loose ends."
• "submarine sandwich."
• "branches of government."
• "windfall."
• "son of a gun"
• "get on one's nerves"
• "Greek to me

External links

• Metaphor and Meaning, an article by William Grey, a Reader in Philosophy at the University of Queensland

References

• Page 237 of Master the AP English Language & Composition Test, a book by Laurie Rozakis