synecdoche
noun
syn·ec·do·che
| \ sə-ˈnek-də-(ˌ)kē
\
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Definition of synecdoche
: a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole (such as fifty sail for fifty ships), the whole for a part (such as society for high society), the species for the genus (such as cutthroat for assassin), the genus for the species (such as a creature for a man), or the name of the material for the thing made (such as boards for stage)
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Other Words from synecdoche
synecdochic
\ ˌsi-ˌnek-ˈdä-kik
\
adjective
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adjective
synecdochical
\ ˌsi-ˌnek-ˈdä-ki-kəl
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adjective
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adjective
synecdochically
\ ˌsi-ˌnek-ˈdä-ki-k(ə-)lē
\
adverb
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adverb
Examples of synecdoche in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The word synecdoche, by the way, is a figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole. — Alan Berner, The Seattle Times, "New Burke Museum will have a striking and symbolic work of art," 19 Aug. 2019 But that person was, without exception, typified as a white working man of rural origins, which became the synecdoche for Americanness itself, a reductive oxymoron of universality. — Sarah Churchwell, The New York Review of Books, "America’s Original Identity Politics," 7 Feb. 2019 Kossola survives Middle Passage, slavery, and the Jim Crow south, so his story serves as a kind of synecdoche of the trauma of race in America. — Constance Grady, Vox, "The 16 best books I read in 2018," 21 Dec. 2018 The figure of Cormery’s domineering grandmother, taking a rawhide switch to the troublemaking boy or up to her elbow in a toilet recovering a two-franc piece, is a synecdoche for the country’s intransigence and desperation. — Sam Sacks, WSJ, "Book Review: Classics Illustrated," 16 Nov. 2018 Brokaw becomes, in his defense, a synecdoche for the proper success story, the ideal American man, the country itself and what is most precious in it. — Eve Fairbanks, The New Republic, "The Hollow Rage of Tom Brokaw," 3 May 2018 But that person was, without exception, typified as a white working man of rural origins, which became the synecdoche for Americanness itself, a reductive oxymoron of universality. — Sarah Churchwell, The New York Review of Books, "America’s Original Identity Politics," 7 Feb. 2019 Kossola survives Middle Passage, slavery, and the Jim Crow south, so his story serves as a kind of synecdoche of the trauma of race in America. — Constance Grady, Vox, "The 16 best books I read in 2018," 21 Dec. 2018 The figure of Cormery’s domineering grandmother, taking a rawhide switch to the troublemaking boy or up to her elbow in a toilet recovering a two-franc piece, is a synecdoche for the country’s intransigence and desperation. — Sam Sacks, WSJ, "Book Review: Classics Illustrated," 16 Nov. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'synecdoche.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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