Figurative Language (Click 'Learn' MC)
metaphor
And therefore I went forth with hope and fear into the wintry forest of our life.
metaphor
And therefore I went forth, with hope and fear / Into the wintry forest of our life;
personification
And with those four words her happiness died.
personification
Chloe heard the last piece of cheesecake in the refrigerator calling her name.
verbal irony
Clayton's room is as tidy as an overgrown garden.
metaphor
Coco always had a taste for the fruit of knowledge.
personification
Coco heard the last piece of pie calling her name.
hyperbole
Coco never forgets anything.
personification
Father Time can always catch up to you, no matter how fast you run.
idiom
Judge Taylor looked daggers at Atticus, as if daring him to speak. —Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
understatement
Jumping into a frozen lake will cool you down, all right.
personification
Justice is blind and, at times, deaf.
hyperbole
Justina has a million pairs of shoes in her closet.
hyperbole
Katie gazed hopelessly at the endless pile of bills stretching across the counter.
onomatopoeia
Kelsey's phone slipped out of her pocket, landing in the toilet with a plop.
personification
Kevin's '64 Impala groaned as he turned the ignition. Yet again he resolved to refurbish it over the summer.
understatement
Kidnapping the bride at her wedding was a slight of breach of decorum.
metaphor
Kiki's answer to the problem was just a Band-Aid, not a solution.
alliteration
Kim's kid kept kicking like crazy.
hyperbole
Nothing can bother him.
hyperbole
Nothing can stop that team.
hyperbole
Nothing could ever go wrong with his plan.
hyperbole
Old Mr. Hastings has been teaching here since the Stone Age.
simile
On the sand banks the rabbits sat as quietly as little gray, sculptured stones. —John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men
hyperbole
Once I get you in my arms, I'm never going to let you go.
alliteration
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary. . . —Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven"
simile
The bottle rolled off the table like a teardrop.
simile
They wore jeans, which made me stand out like a sore thumb.
verbal irony
This bed's about as soft as a brick.
personification
This city never sleeps.
simile
This dress is perfect because it fits like a glove.
metaphor
This job is the cancer of my dreams and aspirations.
personification
This morning had friendly greetings for peaceful sleepers.
metaphor
This song shall be thy rose, soft, fragrant, and with no thorn left to wound thy bosom.
metaphor
This world of life is a garden ravaged.
understatement
Thomas Edison had a few ideas that he wanted to share with the world--1,093 of which would be granted U.S. patents.
personification
Those greedy weeds have starved the flowers.
alliteration
Throughout the ages, human beings have pondered the many mysteries of the moon.
personification
Thunder grumbled and raindrops reported for duty.
understatement
When asked about the circus, Daniel replied, "Yeah, there were animals and stuff. It was okay."
simile
When he reached the top of the hill, he felt as strong as a steel gate.
understatement
When the Internet came, it changed a few things.
pun
When the coach asked whether we wanted to try out the new trampoline, we jumped at the chance.
metaphor
When the teacher leaves her little realm, she breaks her wand of power apart.
simile
When the tree branch broke, Millie fell from the limb like a robin's egg.
alliteration
While walking wearily home I wondered where Wally was.
personification
Winter's icy grip squeezed her rib cage.
metaphor
Words are the weapons with which we wound.
pun
Would you mind lending me your pencil? I tried using mine, but it's pointless.
alliteration
Yarvis yanked his ankle at yoga, and Yolanda yelled out in surprise.
simile
Yolanda talked to her son about girls as though she were giving him tax advice.
simile
You are soft as the nesting dove.
understatement
You could try to swim across the Pacific Ocean, but it'd be a little tiring and there might not be enough time to do it this afternoon.
understatement
You have to work a little bit if you want to be a professional athlete.
hyperbole
You've made me the happiest man alive, Katrina.
onomatopoeia
You've reached Billy Woodard's voice mail. Please leave a detailed message at the beep, and I will return your call at my earliest convenience.
hyperbole
Your brother is the smartest guy in the world.
alliteration
Zachary zeroed in on zoo keeping as a career.
metaphor
John is a worm for what he did to Katie.
alliteration
"He clasps the crag with crooked hands/ Close to the sun in lonely lands . . ." —Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Eagle"
onomatopoeia
"Hear the sledges with the bells/ Silver bells! / How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, / In the icy air of night!" —Edgar Allan Poe, "The Bells"
understatement
"I'll be there in one-second!" shouted Cameron from the other end of the long hallway.
understatement
"Leaving my wallet and ID at the crime scene might have been a small mistake," admitted the criminal.
alliteration
"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary. . ." —Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven"
verbal irony
"There's nothing I love more than skipping lunch," Mr. Todd told the flight attendant when he learned that no food would be available on his cross-country flight.
verbal irony
"This mattress is as soft as concrete," Billy complained as he tested the bed in his hotel room.
verbal irony
"Your new hairstyle is so boring!" Donald remarked when his sister showed up with a pink-and-blue mohawk.
simile
I am so thirsty that my throat is as dry as a bone.
hyperbole
I can smell pizza from a kilometer away.
hyperbole
I can't do anything right.
idiom
A Chicago winter separates the men from the boys, especially newcomers from milder climes.
personification
A case of cupcakes can be quite charming to an empty stomach.
personification
A school of salmon swam across the mouth of the river.
personification
After freedom's sweet kiss, she could never return to the doldrums of the factory.
understatement
After shooting himself in the foot, Nick reckoned that he could be a tad bit clumsy at times.
understatement
After the boys lost the basketball game 15 to 95, the coach said, "Well, guys, we came up a little bit short."
alliteration
After the stock market crash, many people's financial futures went into free fall.
alliteration
Becky's beagle barked and bayed, becoming bothersome for Billy.
simile
Beth's boyfriend appreciated her as an ape might appreciate an algebra book.
metaphor
Blind fools of fate and slaves of circumstance, / Life is a fiddler, and we all must dance.
simile
Blood seeped out of the wound like red teardrops.
personification
Brenda groaned as her shrill alarm clock sprang to life
hyperbole
I could listen to that song on repeat forever.
metaphor
But into her face there came a flame; / I wonder could she have been thinking the same?
simile
But now her hands like moonlight brush the keys with velvet grace.
personification
Any trust I had for him walked right out the door.
simile
Arguing with her was like dueling with hand grenades.
personification
As fall turned to winter, the trees found themselves wearing white.
understatement
As the large pack of snarling wolves advanced, Dakota John smirked at his partner Steve and said, "Aw, you're not afraid of a few puppies are you, Steve?"
allusion
At twenty-one, Jayden felt overwhelmed with adult responsibilities and wished he could fly off to Neverland.
alliteration
Can you keep the cat from clawing the couch? It's creating chaos.
understatement
Carl looked at the mountain jutting into the sky and said, "Yeah, it's probably a little too big to jump over it."
pun
Connor remarked that the new book on anti-gravity was impossible to put down.
personification
December light is brief and uncharitable.
simile
Don't just sit there like a bump on a log.
metaphor
Donations to the charity were a tsunami.
understatement
Driving the wrong way down a one-way rode isn't the safest way to get from point A to point B.
personification
Drugs dragged him into this place and they wouldn't let him leave alive.
hyperbole
Duh. Everyone knows that.
idiom
During much of the twentieth century, artistic types were a dime a dozen in Greenwich Village.
metaphor
Each blade of grass was a tiny bayonet pointed firmly at our bare feet.
verbal irony
Each breakdown of my computer is as enjoyable as a punch to the face.
simile
Each dollar bill was a like a magic wand to cast away problems.
metaphor
Each flame of the fire is a precious stone belonging to all who gaze upon it.
simile
Elderly American ladies leaning on their canes listed toward me like towers of Pisa. —Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
hyperbole
Emily was skinny enough to jump through a keyhole.
hyperbole
Emma never has anything interesting to say.
allusion
Erin Brockovich, a single mother with no legal training, helped win a daunting court battle against a Goliath energy company.
hyperbole
Forget knocking it out of the park, Skippy can knock a baseball off the continent.
alliteration
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes / A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life. —William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
metaphor
From its blue vase the rose of evening drops.
personification
From the warmth and safety of their beds, the villagers listened to the screaming storm until daybreak. Then there was silence.
personification
I decided to take advantage of the opportunity that was knocking at my door
simile
She went like snow in the springtime on a sunny hill.
hyperbole
Gabe won't drive her home because she lives on the other side of the universe.
understatement
Gee, Jim, I don't think you're going to be able to pick up that pickup truck. It looks a tad too heavy for you.
understatement
Getting hit by a speeding car might leave a mark.
understatement
Giving cake to a baby can be a little bit messy.
hyperbole
Go to the beach? That's the best idea ever.
simile
Grandpa lounged on the raft in the middle of the pool like an old battleship.
alliteration
Greedy goats gobbled up gooseberries, getting good at grabbing the goodies.
alliteration
Hannah's home has heat now, hopefully.
pun
He had hoped to find his missing watch, but he couldn't find the time.
personification
He had little to live for now that his dreams were dead.
metaphor
He is a shining star.
metaphor
He pleaded for her forgiveness but Janet's heart was cold iron.
personification
He sang a lonely song to the moonlight.
hyperbole
He walked down the road to nowhere.
metaphor
He wanted his friends to realize that life is a journey and not a destination. —Lynn H. Hough
metaphor
He wanted to set sail on the ocean of love but he just wasted away in the desert.
metaphor
He's a rolling stone, and it's bred in the bone.
simile
Her eyes are like the eyes of statues.
metaphor
Her eyes were fireflies.
metaphor
Her hair was a flowing golden river streaming down her shoulders.
simile
Her hair was as soft as a spider web.
metaphor
Her hope was a fragile seed.
simile
Her laughter was like a warm blanket or a familiar song.
metaphor
Her long hair was a flowing golden river.
metaphor
His cotton candy words did not appeal to her taste.
simile
I flitted like a dizzy moth.
understatement
I got a phone bill for around $30,000, which was slightly more expensive than the $500 that they told me that I'd be paying.
pun
I got hit in the head by a can of soda. Luckily it was a soft drink.
understatement
I guess that getting straight As on your report card is pretty good.
personification
I overheard the streets talking about you.
understatement
I suppose that getting into a fist fight with the principal was a little bit out of line.
understatement
I suppose that having trees and plants on our planet is kind of important.
pun
I thought I'd forgotten how to play with a boomerang, but then it came back to me.
onomatopoeia
I was just beginning to yawn with nerves . . . when I knew his tattarrattat at the door. —James Joyce, Ulysses
metaphor
I was lost in a sea of nameless faces.
hyperbole
I went home and made the biggest sandwich of all time.
hyperbole
I will never say "never."
pun
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger, and then suddenly it hit me.
hyperbole
I'd move mountains for her.
hyperbole
I'd rather French kiss a rattlesnake than miss a PE period.
simile
I'm about as awesome as a flying giraffe.
hyperbole
I've seen this movie at least a thousand times.
simile
If seen from above the factory, the workers would have looked like clock parts.
understatement
If you drop out of high school, you're probably not going to be the next president.
alliteration
If you're going to become true dodgeballers, then you've got to learn the five d's of dodgeball: dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge! —Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
idiom
In May 2014, when wildfires threatened parts of San Diego County in California, firefighters worked around the clock in an effort to control the blaze.
hyperbole
Joe was thirsty enough to drink a river dry.
metaphor
In capitalism, money is the life blood of society but charity is the soul.
metaphor
In my heart's temple I suspend to thee these votive wreaths of withered memory.
metaphor
In the 1950s, there was great societal pressure on women to stay at home and raise children. Many women enjoyed doing so, but for others home was a prison they yearned to escape.
understatement
It turns out that climbing Mount Everest is not so easy.
idiom
It's only forty miles to the ranch as the crow flies, but on the winding local roads, it takes about two hours.
understatement
It's probably a good idea to keep your eyes on the road when you're speeding on the highway.
understatement
It's probably fair to say that it would take you a bit of time to count to a trillion.
understatement
Jake wasn't exactly happy to find out that he wouldn't be graduating.
simile
Jeff's jokes were like flat soda to the children, surprisingly unpleasant.
hyperbole
Jennifer does everything for him.
personification
Kiss your integrity goodbye.
metaphor
Kisses are the flowers of affection.
metaphor
Kisses are the flowers of love in bloom.
metaphor
Knowledge is the key to success.
alliteration
Larry's lizard likes lounging in the sun.
simile
Last night, I slept like a log.
metaphor
Laughter is the music of the soul.
understatement
Launching a rocket into outer space is not that easy.
metaphor
Laura's plan to get into college was a house of cards on a crooked table.
personification
Let the rain kiss you. —Langston Hughes, "April Rain Song"
metaphor
Let your eyes drink up that milkshake sky.
understatement
Let's just say that our son was not pleased to find his new Nintendo Switch at the bottom of the swimming pool.
metaphor
Life is a dream in the night, a fear among fears, / A naked runner lost in a storm of spears.
metaphor
Life is a journey.
metaphor
Life: a lighted window and a closed door.
personification
Light had conquered darkness.
personification
Lightning danced across the sky.
understatement
Looking over the traffic, sprawling bumper to bumper for miles, Ray muttered to his partner, "This could be a minute..."
metaphor
Love is a guest that comes, unbidden, / But, having come, asserts his right;
verbal irony
Marie gazed at the ancient pug that seemed to sleep all day and noted, "You're an energetic puppy!"
understatement
Matt figured that wrestling the grizzly bear would be a tad bit risky, so he went back the way he came.
understatement
Maybe eating an entire chocolate cake for breakfast wasn't the healthiest way to start the day.
personification
Melody ate the hotdog despite the arguments it posed to her digestive system.
metaphor
Men and women pass in the street glad of the shining sapphire weather.
metaphor
Men court not death when there are sweets still left in life to taste.
alliteration
Mike made mellow music with his new microphone.
personification
Money is the only friend that I can count on.
personification
Most pianos have pretty good manners but Arthur can make them sound rude.
personification
My alarm clock yells at me to get out of bed every morning.
understatement
My cousin is 7 feet tall and I'm 5 feet, so I guess he's a got a little bit of height on me.
hyperbole
My dad is always working.
hyperbole
My dad knows everything about cars.
metaphor
My dreams are flowers to which you are a bee.
personification
My flowers were begging for water.
hyperbole
My grandpa worked his fingers to the bone.
personification
My heart has been skipping around in my chest since I saw her.
metaphor
My heart swelled with a sea of tears.
personification
My house is a friend who protects me.
simile
My love for you is as deep as the ocean.
simile
My mother's kitchen was like a holy place: you couldn't wear your shoes, you had to sit there at a certain time, and occasionally we'd pray.
hyperbole
My parents iare going to kill me.
metaphor
My soul was a lampless sea and she was the tempest.
understatement
My teacher assigned a thick homework packet, two book reports, and a 10-page research project, so I guess that I'm going to be a little busy this weekend.
metaphor
My words are chains of lead.
hyperbole
Nathan is the fastest thing on two feet.
alliteration
Nick's nephew needed some new notebooks.
hyperbole
Nobody can beat level level.
personification
One unhappy icicle wasted away in the day.
understatement
Organizing all of the books in this library did require a little time and a teensy bit of work.
understatement
Our math teacher knows a thing or two about arithmetic.
alliteration
Peter's piglet pranced priggishly.
understatement
Pluto can get as cold as -400F at night, so if you're going there, you might want to bring a jacket.
idiom
Problems emerge and some people try to sweep them under the rug. —Bill Condon, film director
alliteration
Quincy's quilters quit quilting quickly.
hyperbole
Rachel would be content anywhere.
simile
Rosie followed her dreams like most kids would follow a big sister.
alliteration
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer rose rapidly into the air.
personification
Rusted old cars lounged in every corner of the junkyard.
simile
Sam looked at the test with a stare as blank as his notebook.
hyperbole
Sarah never stops talking.
metaphor
Scars are the roadmap to the soul.
metaphor
See the sun, far off, a shriveled orange in a sky gone black;
alliteration
Seven sisters slept soundly on the sand.
metaphor
She cut him down with her words.
understatement
She gave birth to me, raised me from an infant, always provided for me... Maybe I owe her one.
simile
She hung her head like a dying flower.
simile
She is as thin as a rake.
metaphor
She let such beautiful pearls of wisdom slip from her mouth without even knowing.
simile
She looked at me like I was speaking in some strange alien tongue.
simile
She swam through the waters like she was falling through a warm dream.
metaphor
She was fairly certain that life was a fashion show.
metaphor
She was just a trophy to Brad, another object to possess.
allusion
Skippy is a real Benedict Arnold. After promising to work on my campaign for class president, he decided to support my opponent.
personification
Slowly, a renewed sense of dread invaded her mind.
understatement
Snails don't rank among the fastest of animals.
metaphor
So I sit spinning still, round this decaying form, the fine threads of rare and subtle thought.
metaphor
So in this dimmer room which we call life, / Life is the night with its dream-visions teeming, / Death is the waking at day.
understatement
So maybe jumping out of an airplane without a parachute wasn't the best idea.
alliteration
So we beat on . . . borne back ceaselessly into the past. —F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
metaphor
Some days my thoughts are just cocoons hanging from dripping branches in the grey woods of my mind.
understatement
Some folks might turn their noses up at old Skip, on account of all of those murders that he committed, but he's good people when it comes down to it.
metaphor
Still sits the school-house by the road, a ragged beggar sunning.
personification
Still waters shivered in the wind.
personification
Summer sneaked up on me this year; I'm not ready for it to be this hot!
understatement
Swimming with those starving sharks might be a bit unpleasant.
understatement
Teresa looked at the black, smoldering chunk of charred meat on her plate and said, "Maybe it's a bit overcooked."
simile
That guy is as nutty as a fruitcake.
simile
That is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.
hyperbole
That was the easiest question in the world.
hyperbole
That woman has no self-control.
understatement
The Universe is a pretty big place.
personification
The angry storm pounded the tin shelter.
personification
The approaching car's headlights winked at me.
simile
The assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, was as shocking as an earthquake, leaving Americans feeling shaken and vulnerable.
allusion
The audience at the 2012 Olympics cheered as, with Herculean effort, Kim Un-Guk of North Korea set an Olympic record by lifting a 153-kilogram weight.
personification
The avalanche devoured anything standing in its way.
metaphor
The average teenage boy's room is a disaster area.
personification
The brown grass was begging for water.
personification
The brush grabbed at his legs in the dark until one knee of his jeans ripped. —John Steinbeck, "Flight"
personification
The buses can be impatient around here.
personification
The business world would chew you up and spit you out.
personification
The butterflies played hide and seek among the flowers.
personification
The cactus saluted any visitor brave enough to travel the scorched land.
personification
The cactus saluted those who drove past.
metaphor
The calm lake was a mirror.
personification
The camera loves her since she is so pretty.
personification
The candle flame danced in the dark.
personification
The car complained as the key was roughly turned in its ignition.
metaphor
The cast on Skippy's broken leg was a plaster shackle.
metaphor
The cherry-trees are seas of bloom and soft perfume and sweet perfume.
personification
The child of morning, rosy fingered dawn, appeared.
metaphor
The children were flowers grown in concrete gardens.
metaphor
The children were roses grown in concrete gardens, beautiful and forlorn.
metaphor
The classroom was a zoo.
simile
The classroom was as quiet as a tongue-tied librarian in a hybrid car.
metaphor
The clouds are balls of cotton.
personification
The clouds pushed each other around in the sky.
metaphor
The clouds sailed across the sky.
simile
The clouds were like ice-cream castles in the sky.
metaphor
The computer in the classroom was an old dinosaur.
simile
The curtains stir as with an ancient pain.
metaphor
The daggers of heat pierced through his white t-shirt.
metaphor
The detective listened to her tales with a wooden face.
personification
The door protested as it opened slowly.
metaphor
The drums of time have rolled and ceased.
personification
The elaborate monument demanded the attention of everyone who came near it.
understatement
The elderly woman who was thrown from the train was having a rough morning.
hyperbole
The end of the semester will never come.
metaphor
The falling snowflakes are dancers.
simile
The flowers were as soft as thoughts of budding love.
personification
The frozen waffles, now deliciously warm and brown, leaped from the toaster.
metaphor
The great gold apples of light hang from the street's long bough, dripping their light on the faces that drift below, on the faces that drift and blow.
simile
The handshake felt like warm laundry.
onomatopoeia
The hum of the computer concerned Steven. Was the problem with the power supply or the hard drive?
simile
The ice sculptor's hands fluttered like hummingbird wings.
personification
The jittery hands of corruption orchestrated the affairs at city hall.
metaphor
The job interview was a rope ladder dropped from heaven.
hyperbole
The lesson was taking forever.
metaphor
The light flows into the bowl of the midnight sky, violet, amber and rose.
metaphor
The lightning was fireworks in the sky.
simile
The man held the blanket like a memory.
onomatopoeia
The metal platter landed with a great clang, spraying bits of food across the kitchen floor and cabinets.
personification
The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk with. —Carl Sandburg, "Moonlight and Maggots"
personification
The moon smiled at the stars in the sky.
personification
The moon turned over to face the day.
metaphor
The mother arrived at the grocery store with an army of children.
simile
The music burst like a bent-up flood.
understatement
The next closest star to the Earth is a mere 4.22 light years away.
personification
The night was creeping on the ground! She crept and did not make a sound.
understatement
The ocean has a decent amount of water in it.
verbal irony
The old wooden rocking chair that Lyla brought home from the rummage sale was as comfortable as a bed of nails.
hyperbole
The only thing that he ever wants to do is play that game.
metaphor
The park was a lake after the rain.
personification
The party died as soon as she left.
metaphor
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. —L. P. Hartley, The Go-Between
metaphor
The path of resentment is easier to travel than the road to forgiveness.
personification
The path was steep and rocky, and the bus breathed hard as it made a slow ascent.
simile
The people who still lived in the town were stuck in place like wax statues.
metaphor
The promise between us was a delicate flower.
verbal irony
The residents of Detroit will be delighted by today's forecast; they can expect another unpleasant weekend of heavy snow, sleet, and ice.
simile
The river flows like a stream of glass
metaphor
The road ahead was a ribbon stretching across the desert.
simile
The robins are as thick today as flakes of snow were yesterday,
hyperbole
The sight of them kissing is so gross that it makes me want to barf.
personification
The silence crept into the classroom.
metaphor
The snow is a white blanket.
simile
They children ran like ripples through water.
personification
The sorry engine wheezed its death cough.
personification
The stairs groaned as we walked on them.
metaphor
The stars are sparkling diamonds.
simile
The stars looked like stupid little fish.
metaphor
The sun is a golden ball.
personification
The sun stretched its golden arms across the plains.
personification
The sunflowers nodded in the wind.
personification
The surfers rode the wave as it sprinted towards the coastline.
metaphor
The teacher planted the seeds of wisdom.
simile
The town square was buzzing like a beehive.
personification
The traffic noises argued long into the night and finally Ethan went to sleep.
personification
The trees danced in the wind.
personification
The trees dropped their leaves and rested.
simile
The truth was like a bad taste on his tongue.
personification
The vine wove its fingers around the fence.
personification
The violinist made his instrument cry out the haunting melody.
personification
The washing machine complained when Brody ran an oversized load of laundry.
simile
The water made a sound like kittens lapping. —Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, The Yearling
metaphor
The wheels of justice turn slowly.
personification
The wildfire ran through the forest at an amazing speed.
personification
The wind carelessly dispersed the leaves that Andrew had spent so long raking.
personification
The wind howled in the night.
personification
The wind whispered the rumors of the forest.
simile
The windows in the storm winds shook like scared children.
personification
The world does not care to hear your sad stories.
simile
Then I knew those tiny voices, clear as drops of dew.
hyperbole
These shoes are killing me.
simile
They are as different as night and day.
alliteration
Tim took tons of tools to make toys for the tots.
simile
Tom scattered his pocket change in front of the beggars like crumbs of bread.
metaphor
Tom's eyes were ice as he stared at her.
understatement
Torture can be uncomfortable at times.
verbal irony
Unfortunately, the wild blueberries we picked were as sweet as vinegar.
hyperbole
Video games is the only thing that ever mattered to him.
hyperbole
Vivian drank from a bottomless glass of apple juice.
alliteration
Vivien is very vixen-like and vexing.
understatement
Walking across the entire continent of Asia might take you a minute.
simile
Watching the show was like watching grass grow.
metaphor
Waves of spam emails inundated his inbox.
metaphor
We are all shadows on the wall of time.
personification
We heard thunder grumbling in the distance.
onomatopoeia
We held our breath as the basketball made an arc toward the basket and then sunk into the net with a satisfying whoosh.
hyperbole
We tried everything that we could.
hyperbole
We'll be best friends forever.
simile
Well, that went over like a lead balloon.
metaphor
What storms then shook the ocean of my sleep.
metaphor
When Dragon Ball Z came on TV, the boys were glued in their seats.
metaphor
When I was a teenager, reading was my ticket to foreign lands: I traveled to India, China, and Antarctica without ever leaving the comfort of my home.
pun
When Paula first joined the track team, she was afraid of jumping, but she got over that hurdle.