Synecdoche

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Synecdoche is a figure of speech that presents a kind of metaphor in which:

A part of something is used for the whole,
The whole is used for a part,
The species is used for the genus,
The genus is used for the species, or
The stuff of which something is made is used for the thing.

Synecdoche, as well as some forms of metonymy, is one of the most common ways to characterize a fictional character. Frequently, someone will be consistently described by a single body part or feature, such as the eyes, which comes to represent their person.

Also, sonnets and other forms of love poetry frequently use synecdoches to characterize the beloved in terms of individual body parts rather than a whole, coherent self. This practice is especially common in the Petrarchan sonnet, where the idealised beloved is often described part by part, from head to toe.

[edit] Examples

Examples where a part of something is used to refer to the whole:
- The hired hands [workers] are not doing their jobs.
- His parents bought him a new set of wheels [car].
- similarly, "mouths to feed" for hungry people, "white hair" for an elderly person, "The Press" for newsmedia.

Examples where the whole of something is used to refer to a part of it:
- The police [on-duty police officers] came too late.
- Michigan [the government of Michigan] just passed a law addressing this problem.
- similarly, "body" for the trunk of the body, the "smiling year" for spring

Examples where a species (specific kind) is used to refer to its genus (more general kind):
- The cutthroats [assassins] there will as soon shoot a man as look at him.
- Could you pass me a Kleenex [facial tissue]?
- similarly, "coke" for soda, "castle" for home, "bread" for food, "Judas" for traitor

Examples where a genus is used to refer to a species:
- No creature [person] would believe that story.
- We're fresh out of milk [cow's milk], but we do have goat's milk.

Examples where the material an object is made of is used to refer to the object itself:
- Those are some nice threads [clothes].
- Would you like paper or plastic [paper or plastic bags]?
- similarly, "willow" for cricket bat, "copper" for penny, "boards" for stage, "ivories" for piano keys, "plastic" for credit card, "the hardwood" for a gym floor