The substitution of one word for another with which it is associated.
Example
"The Crown" for the British monarchy.
"The press" for the news media.
"A dish" for an entrée.
"The Pentagon", a building, to refer to the organization that occupies it, the U.S. Department of Defense.
"The White House" for the President of the United States and his administration, by the same token as above.
[n] substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in `they counted heads')