| nonliteral | | |
| adj. | 1. figurative, nonliteral | (used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech.; "figurative language" |
| ~ analogical | expressing, composed of, or based on an analogy.; "the analogical use of a metaphor" |
| ~ extended | beyond the literal or primary sense.; "`hot off the press' shows an extended sense of `hot'" |
| ~ metaphoric, metaphorical | expressing one thing in terms normally denoting another.; "a metaphorical expression"; "metaphoric language" |
| ~ metonymic, metonymical | using the name of one thing for that of another with which it is closely associated.; "to say `he spent the evening reading Shakespeare' is metonymic because it substitutes the author himself for the author's works" |
| ~ poetic | characterized by romantic imagery.; "Turner's vision of the rainbow...was poetic" |
| ~ synecdochic, synecdochical | using the name of a part for that of the whole or the whole for the part; or the special for the general or the general for the special; or the material for the thing made of it.; "to use `hand' for `worker' or `ten sail' for `ten ships' or `steel' for `sword' is to use a synecdochic figure of speech" |
| ~ tropical | characterized by or of the nature of a trope or tropes; changed from its literal sense. |
| ~ rhetorical | given to rhetoric, emphasizing style at the expense of thought.; "mere rhetorical frippery" |
| letter | | |
| n. (communication) | 1. letter, missive | a written message addressed to a person or organization.; "mailed an indignant letter to the editor" |
| ~ document | anything serving as a representation of a person's thinking by means of symbolic marks. |
| ~ mail | the bags of letters and packages that are transported by the postal service. |
| ~ text, textual matter | the words of something written.; "there were more than a thousand words of text"; "they handed out the printed text of the mayor's speech"; "he wants to reconstruct the original text" |
| ~ correspondence | communication by the exchange of letters. |
| ~ business letter | a letter dealing with business. |
| ~ cover letter, covering letter | a letter sent along with other documents to provide additional information. |
| ~ crank letter | a hostile (usually anonymous) letter. |
| ~ encyclical, encyclical letter | a letter from the pope sent to all Roman Catholic bishops throughout the world. |
| ~ fan letter | a letter that is a piece of fan mail. |
| ~ personal letter | a letter dealing with personal affairs. |
| ~ form letter | a letter that is printed in multiple copies and mailed to a list of recipients. |
| ~ open letter | a letter of protest; addressed to one person but intended for the general public. |
| ~ chain letter | a letter that is sent successively to several people. |
| ~ pastoral | a letter from a pastor to the congregation. |
| ~ round robin | a letter signed by a number of people. |
| ~ aerogram, aerogramme, air letter, airmail letter | a letter sent by air mail. |
| ~ epistle | a specially long, formal letter. |
| ~ dead mail, dead letter | mail that can neither be delivered nor returned. |
| ~ letter of intent | any letter expressing an intention to take (or forgo) some action. |
| ~ postscript, ps | a note appended to a letter after the signature. |
| ~ name and address, destination, address | written directions for finding some location; written on letters or packages that are to be delivered to that location. |
| ~ line | text consisting of a row of words written across a page or computer screen.; "the letter consisted of three short lines"; "there are six lines in every stanza" |
| ~ invitation | a request (spoken or written) to participate or be present or take part in something.; "an invitation to lunch"; "she threw the invitation away" |
| n. (communication) | 2. alphabetic character, letter, letter of the alphabet | the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech.; "his grandmother taught him his letters" |
| ~ spelling | forming words with letters according to the principles underlying accepted usage. |
| ~ alphabet | a character set that includes letters and is used to write a language. |
| ~ grapheme, graphic symbol, character | a written symbol that is used to represent speech.; "the Greek alphabet has 24 characters" |
| ~ ascender | a lowercase letter that has a part extending above other lowercase letters. |
| ~ descender | a lowercase letter that has a part extending below other lowercase letters. |
| ~ digram, digraph | two successive letters (especially two letters used to represent a single sound: `sh' in `shoe'). |
| ~ initial | the first letter of a word (especially a person's name).; "he refused to put the initials FRS after his name" |
| ~ a | the 1st letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ b | the 2nd letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ c | the 3rd letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ d | the 4th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ e | the 5th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ f | the 6th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ g | the 7th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ h | the 8th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ i | the 9th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ j | the 10th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ k | the 11th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ l | the 12th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ m | the 13th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ n | the 14th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ o | the 15th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ p | the 16th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ q | the 17th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ r | the 18th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ s | the 19th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ t | the 20th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ u | the 21st letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ v | the 22nd letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ double-u, w | the 23rd letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ x, ex | the 24th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ wye, y | the 25th letter of the Roman alphabet. |
| ~ ezed, izzard, zed, zee, z | the 26th letter of the Roman alphabet.; "the British call Z zed and the Scots call it ezed but Americans call it zee"; "he doesn't know A from izzard" |
| ~ alpha | the 1st letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ beta | the 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ gamma | the 3rd letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ delta | the 4th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ epsilon | the 5th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ zeta | the 6th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ eta | the 7th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ theta | the 8th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ iota | the 9th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ kappa | the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ lambda | the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ mu | the 12th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ nu | the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ xi | the 14th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ omicron | the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ pi | the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ rho | the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ sigma | the 18th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ tau | the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ upsilon | the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ phi | the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ khi, chi | the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ psi | the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ omega | the last (24th) letter of the Greek alphabet. |
| ~ aleph | the 1st letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ beth | the 2nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ gimel | the 3rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ daleth | the 4th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ he | the 5th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ waw | the 6th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ zayin | the 7th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ heth | the 8th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ teth | the 9th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ yodh | the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ kaph | the 11th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ lamedh | the 12th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ mem | the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ nun | the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ samekh | the 15th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ ayin | the 16th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ pe | the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ sadhe | the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ qoph | the 19th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ resh | the 20th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ sin | the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ shin | the 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ taw | the 23rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet. |
| ~ polyphone, polyphonic letter | a letter that has two or more pronunciations.; "`c' is a polyphone because it is pronounced like `k' in `car' but like `s' in `cell'" |
| ~ block capital, block letter | a plain hand-drawn letter. |
| ~ vowel | a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken vowel. |
| ~ consonant | a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken consonant. |
| n. (person) | 3. letter | owner who lets another person use something (housing usually) for hire. |
| ~ owner, proprietor | (law) someone who owns (is legal possessor of) a business.; "he is the owner of a chain of restaurants" |
| n. (communication) | 4. letter | a strictly literal interpretation (as distinct from the intention).; "he followed instructions to the letter"; "he obeyed the letter of the law" |
| ~ literal interpretation | an interpretation based on the exact wording. |
| n. (communication) | 5. letter, varsity letter | an award earned by participation in a school sport.; "he won letters in three sports" |
| ~ accolade, honor, laurels, award, honour | a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction.; "an award for bravery" |
| v. (possession) | 6. letter | win an athletic letter. |
| ~ garner, earn | acquire or deserve by one's efforts or actions. |
| v. (creation) | 7. letter | set down or print with letters. |
| ~ print, impress | reproduce by printing. |
| v. (creation) | 8. letter | mark letters on or mark with letters. |
| ~ write | mark or trace on a surface.; "The artist wrote Chinese characters on a big piece of white paper"; "Russian is written with the Cyrillic alphabet" |
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