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Thesaurus: catachresis

A figure by which one word is wrongly put for another, or by which a word is wrested from its true signification; as, "To take arms against a sea of troubles". Shak. "Her voice was but the shadow of a sound." Young.

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Definitions

  1. n. A word/figure">figure by which one word is wrongly put for another, or by which a word is wrested from its true signification; as, "To take arms against a sea of troubles". Shak. "Her voice was but the shadow of a sound." Young.
  2. n. strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as ‘blatant’ to mean ‘flagrant’) or deliberately (as in a mixed metaphor: ‘blind mouths’)
  3. A word/figure">figure by which one word is wrongly put for another, or by which a word is wrested from its true signification; as, "To take arms against a sea of troubles. " Shak. "Her voice was but the shadow of a sound." Young.
  4. A word/figure">figure by which one word is wrongly put for another, or bywhich a word is wrested from its true signification; as, "To takearms against a sea of troubles. " Shak. "Her voice was but the shadowof a sound." Young.
  5. n. strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as `blatant' to mean `flagrant') or deliberately (as in a mixed metaphor: `blind mouths')