Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole, the whole stands for a part, or a specific detail stands for something larger or more general. Poets use it to compress meaning and make an image feel sharper and more immediate. It is closely related to metonymy, but synecdoche depends on a true part-whole relationship.
Example
All hands rose with the dawn,
then one white sail slipped from the bay.
The village watched its sails and hands
grow small in the pale light.
- A part of something is used for the whole
- "hands" to refer to workers, "head" for cattle, "threads" for clothing, "wheels" for car, "mouths to feed" for hungry people, "white hair" for the elderly, "The Press" for news media
- The whole is used for a part
- "the police" for a handful of officers, "body" for the trunk of the body, the "smiling year" for spring, "the Pentagon" for the top-ranking generals in the Pentagon building
- The species is used for the genus
- "cutthroat" for assassin, "kleenex" for facial tissue, "coke" for soda, "castle" for home, "bread" for food, "Judas" for traitor
- The genus is used for the species
- "creature" for person, "milk" for cow's milk
- The material of which an object is made is used for the complete object
- "willow" for cricket bat, "copper" for penny, "boards" for stage, "ivories" for piano keys, "plastic" for credit card, "the hardwood" for a gym floor