Metaphor River Tears Water Imaginative Describing Referring Mind

A metaphor is an imaginative way of describing something by referring to something else, which is the same in a particular way.

"The mind is an ocean" and "the city is a jungle" are both metaphors.

For example, a river and tears aren't very alike. One is a body of water in nature, while the other can be produced by our eyes. They do have one thing in common, though: both are a type of water that flows. A metaphor uses this similarity to help the writer make a point:

Her tears were a river flowing down her cheeks.