metonymy
/məˈtɑnəmi/
noun
- A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is replaced by another word or phrase that is closely associated with it, such as using 'the White House' to mean the U.S. government.
- Metonymy is common in everyday language, like when we say 'the dish' to refer to the food served on it.
- Writers use metonymy to make their language more vivid and concise, such as 'the crown' for the king.
- In the sentence 'The stage erupted in applause,' 'stage' is an example of metonymy for the performers on stage.