Simile (noun): a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more vivid. If we drop the “as” or “like” then we get a metaphor. Here are a few similes from my latest novel (feedback welcome):
- Harpoon rose like a surfer lifted by a growing swell and landed hard on the decking
- The question hung like a rotting fish, and none of the sailors dared touch it.
- Squid felt his anger rising like a king tide.
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He seemed built as tall as he was wide, yet he could swing his compact frame through the passageways like a reef fish.
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It was Doc, flapping her arms like an albatross during lift-off.
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When the tapping pauses, he pounces like a car salesman, arriving with iced water and breadsticks.
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Jutting into the Western Mediterranean like an overgrown toenail is the tiny nation of Gibraltar.