| Term | Definition |
| personification | The red pen bled out in the teacher's bag. |
| metaphor | My sister is the devil. |
| simile | The ocean is as blue as the sky. |
| idiom | Cat got your tongue? |
| personification | The sun grinned down at the playground. |
| idiom | Don't let the cat out of the bag! |
| personification | The vacuum hums a happy tune while it cleaned. |
| simile | He is as free as a bird. |
| simile | The rocks are as sharp as knives. |
| idiom | Your nose is growing. |
| idiom | You passed by the skin of your teeth. |
| personification | The guilt was eating him up. |
| oxymoron | diet dessert |
| simile | This test is like a game of twister. |
| onomatopoeia | Vroom |
| hyperbole | My head is killing me. |
| simile | Teachers are like prison guards. |
| metaphor | That man is a loose cannon. |
| oxymoron | sad clown |
| imagery | The smell of the warm, gooey brownies was delightful. |
| personification | The grass tickled my bare feet. |
| alliteration | the repetition of CONSONANT sounds close together (ex: Sally sells seashells by the seashore.) |
| pun | The artist at the police station was drawing someone sketchy. |
| simile | comparing two UNLIKE objects using "like" or "as" (ex: Your room looks like a pig pen!"; "Your room is as messy as a garbage dump!") |
| rhyme | bat/cat |
| hyperbole | I am scared to death. |
| metaphor | Students are inmates. |
| personification | The wildfire ran wildly through the forest. |
| metaphor | My car is a lemon. |
| irony | Well, that team was tough to beat (after winning by 35 points). |
| idiom | We are shooting the breeze. |
| idiom | Pull yourself together! |
| idiom | It slipped my mind. |
| personification | The lightning danced across the sky to the beat of the thunder. |
| rhyme | skate/hate |
| personification | The Mexican food was having a war with my stomach. |
| metaphor | You are the light of my life. |
| onomatopoeia | zapp! |
| metaphor | Jay is a skyscraper. |
| idiom | You are pushing my buttons! |
| personification | My stomach growled angrily. |
| simile | The deer dropped like a rock. |
| irony | I just love Mondays. |
| personification | The snowflakes jumped from the sky. |
| simile | She is as strong as a bull. |
| imagery | The rusty gate creaked eerily at the edge of the foggy cemetery. |
| figurative language | words or phrases that have a meaning different from the literal meaning, such as idioms, metaphors, and similes. |
| imagery | using the five senses to create visual images |
| pun | I was addicted to hokey pokey once, but then I turned myself around. |
| pun | Sydney was fired from her job at the hamburger joint for putting her hair in a bun. |
| idiom | I just dodged a bullet. |
| idiom | The ball is in your court now. |
| idiom | Stop the horse play! |
| simile | Her pregnant belly looks like a balloon. |
| simile | The wind was as fierce as a pack of rabid dogs, tearing at my jacket. |
| simile | She is as light as a feather. |
| haiku | I went to the store
I got some potato chips
Salt and vinegar |
| idiom | The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. |
| pun | It's hard to beat scrambled eggs for breakfast. |
| hyperbole | Your smile lights up the whole world. |
| idiom | Get your act together! |
| simile | She is as courageous as a lion. |
| alliteration | Gracie grows green grapes in her garden. |
| alliteration | Lexa likes to live in la-la land. |
| simile | The new boy was as cold as ice. |
| pun | I've been to the dentist a lot, so I know the drill. |
| allusion | Don't be a Scrooge. |
| hyperbole | I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. |
| imagery | The hot apple pie smelled so heavenly, but burnt my mouth. |
| personification | The rock trotted down the hill. |
| idiom | Let's hit the hay. |
| metaphor | My room is a pig sty. |
| metaphor | Ben's temper was a volcano, ready to explode. |
| refrain | lines repeated in a poem; the chorus of a song |
| allusion | A reference to another work of literature, person, or event |
| personification | The moon's shadow danced across the lake. |
| onomatopoeia | sizzle |
| hyperbole | exaggerated statement (ex: "This is taking forever!") |
| oxymoron | old news |
| hyperbole | This is taking forever. |
| personification | The acid ate a hole in his leg. |
| personification | The wind whispered in my ear. |
| haiku | a three-line poem, usually about nature. The first line is five syllables, the second is seven syllables, and the third line is five syllables. |
| simile | I am as grouchy as a bear. |
| personification | The song brought me back to the school dance. |
| oxymoron | jumbo shrimp |
| alliteration | Taylor takes tape off of the table. |
| hyperbole | My eyelids weigh a thousand pounds. |
| personification | The music touched me. |
| rhyme | son/fun/run/one |
| personification | The pencil jumped out of my hand. |
| metaphor | comparing two UNLIKE objects without using "like" or "as" (ex: "Jeffery is a computer.") |
| personification | Sweat ran down my forehead. |
| metaphor | My desk is a black hole. |
| personification | The stars danced in the night sky. |
| personification | My bed is calling my name. |
| simile | The candy is as hard as a rock. |
| personification | Time was creeping up on me. |
| hyperbole | You're older than dust. |
| personification | The cold punched me in the face when I went outside. |
| irony | I can really tell you studied (after passing back a failing grade). |
| simile | My present was as big as an elephant. |
| pun | It's pointless to write with a broken pencil. |
| idiom | All that and a bag of chips |
| imagery | The fresh cut grass' smell drifted through the wind on the hot summer day. |
| personification | The cow jumped over the moon. |
| personification | My shadow walked away from me. |
| pun | The movie about Jupiter was out of this world. |
| hyperbole | I am burning up. |
| simile | the wind was as loud as a train. |
| imagery | The loud children screamed as the bell echoed through the crowded yellow brick hallway. |
| idiom | You're pulling my leg. |
| personification | The words hesitated to leave his mouth. |
| simile | Laura is like a frog. |
| personification | The grass grabbed my shoe. |
| onomatopoeia | kapow! |
| personification | The rocks tripped me. |
| metaphor | Life is a highway. |
| simile | Her hair is as shiny as glass. |
| onomatopoeia | the use of a word to represent a real sound (ex: boom, clap, bang, ring) |
| oxymoron | putting two words together that have opposite meanings (dumb genius, short giant) |
| metaphor | She is a wooly mammath. |
| simile | My handwriting is as messy as an earthquake. |
| irony | Boy, I just love it when we lose. |
| metaphor | You are a ray of sunshine. |
| literal | the exact meaning of a word or phrase |
| idiom | I've got a bone to pick with you. |
| irony | That bathroom smells great. |
| personification | My alarm clock screams "Wake up!" every morning. |
| vowels | a, e, i o, u |
| personification | The hummingbird kissed the red flowers. |
| simile | Spencer is like a rat. |
| pun | You will be mist, boiled water. |
| personification | giving human qualities to nonhuman things (ex: The clock "tells" time.) |
| allusion | He is a real Romeo. |
| metaphor | School is a prison. |
| personification | The leaf jumped on her face. |
| personification | The bright screen grabbed my attention. |
| idiom | He broke her heart. |
| simile | My kitty is as cute as a button. |
| personification | The bread leaped out of the toaster. |
| alliteration | Sarah sighs slowly. |
| metaphor | Spencer is a prison warden. |
| irony | Oh, great. A flat tire... |
| simile | His stare is as deadly as Medusa |
| idiom | Don't spill the beans! |
| simile | The Christmas tree shined like a disco ball. |
| metaphor | This classroom is a circus. |
| idiom | You were on the ball at your interview. |
| simile | The present was as small as a mouse. |
| personification | The roof cried slow tears on the sidewalk. |
| consonants | b, c, d, f, g... |
| simile | That bird is as dead as a door nail. |
| metaphor | The clouds are cotton candy in the sky. |
| idiom | break a leg |
| simile | He is as dumb as a box of rocks. |
| simile | Jimmy is as sweet as a PopTart. |
| alliteration | My mom made me mash my M&Ms. |
| alliteration | That rascally rabbit rigorously runs rapidly. |
| personification | The flowers were begging for water. |
| idiom | She stabbed me in the back. |
| hyperbole | She is a million years old. |
| simile | You shine bright like a diamond. |
| metaphor | Pigeons are sky rats. |
| personification | My cupcake was calling my name. |
| allusion | Houston, we have a problem. |
| personification | The world hates me today. |
| rhyme | mime/lime |
| idiom | I am stuck in a rut. |
| simile | He is as hot as fire. |
| personification | The basket caught my ball. |
| alliteration | Billy buys banana bread at the bakery. |
| simile | The dessert tastes like heaven. |
| simile | Life is like a roller coaster. |
| simile | Her heart is as cold as ice. |
| idiom | My life is in your hands. |
| rhyme | cake/bake |
| idiom | Corbett threw Hunter under the bus. |
| metaphor | Emma is a fish. |
| idiom | Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. |
| personification | The book grabbed my attention. |
| personification | The hands of fate grabbed my soul. |
| personification | The sun poked me as I lay on the beach. |
| onomatopoeia | swish |
| idiom | Put your thinking caps on. |
| oxymoron | serious comedy |
| personification | The flag proudly stood at the edge of the school. |
| idiom | It will knock your socks off! |
| personification | The angry thunder bellowed in the distance. |
| simile | The sad girl cried like a waterfall. |
| alliteration | Hayes' hair hates humidity. |
| alliteration | Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. How many pecks of peppers did Peter Piper pick? |
| idiom | He bit the bullet. |
| simile | His heart is as cold as ice. |
| oxymoron | deafening silence |
| simile | He is as big as a whale. |
| simile | He is as thick as a brick. |
| simile | The lamb is as white as fresh-fallen snow. |
| simile | He smells like a wet dog. |
| simile | Your momma is as wrinkled as an elephant. |
| personification | His pencil danced across the paper. |
| hyperbole | There are a million people at this game. |
| simile | He spun like a fiery tornado. |
| personification | The book jumped off the shelf and attacked Jessica. |
| idiom | You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. |
| idiom | Cut it out. |
| metaphor | This test is a piece of cake. |
| personification | That book spoke to me. |
| metaphor | He is a pig. |
| irony | What great weather we are having (as it is raining). |
| hyperbole | My feet weighed a ton in the swampy water. |
| pun | a humorous play on words |
| simile | Emma is like an angel. |
| simile | She is as tall as a giraffe. |
| idiom | Go out on a limb and make a guess. |
| alliteration | Gordan gave her gold giraffe green grapes. |
| metaphor | Love is a battlefield. |
| personification | The tree branch slapped me. |
| rhyme scheme | the pattern of rhyme that comes at the end of each verse or line in poetry |
| idiom | You are on my last nerve. |
| imagery | The smell of the rose garden drifted through the open window on the gentle breeze. |
| simile | Rylee is as fast as lightning. |
| simile | His hair looks like a rat's nest. |
| metaphor | Austin is a ninja. |
| idiom | a phrase that cannot be understood from the literal meaning (ex: "It's raining cats and dogs.") |
| imagery | The bright lightning bolt flashed across the dark grey sky and I felt the rain drip on my raincoat. |
| pun | If you need an arc, I Noah guy. |
| oxymoron | freezer burn |
| idiom | Get your mind out of the gutter. |
| rhyme | two or more words that end with same sounds (ex: cake, rake, bake) |
| simile | Time is like gold. |
| idiom | I will let you off the hook. |
| simile | The Ohio River is like Hershey syrup. |
| stanza | a group of lines in a poem or song that is SEPARATED from the rest of the poem or song |
| irony | to mean the opposite of what is said (ex: "We are so happy to be back at school.") |
| personification | Her mouth wouldn't stop running. |
| personification | The party died around midnight. |
