Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MET'A-PHOR, n. [Gr. μεταφορα, from μεταφερω, to transfer; μετα, over, and φερω, to carry.]

A short similitude; a similitude reduced to a single word; Or a word expressing similitude without the signs of comparison. Thus “that man is a fox,” is a metaphor; but “that man is like a fox,” is a similitude or comparison. So when I say, “the soldiers were lions in combat,” I use a metaphor; but when I say, “the soldiers fought like lions,” I use a similitude. In metaphor, the similitude is contained in the name; a man is a fox, means, a man is as crafty as a fox. So we say, a man bridles his anger, that is, restrains it as a bridle restrains a horse. Beauty awakens love or tender passions; opposition fires courage.