simile

сравнение

an imaginative comparison of two unlike objects belonging to two different classes on the grounds of similarity of some quality

The one which is compared is called the tenor, the one with which it is compared, is called the vehicle. The tenor and the vehicle form the two semantic poles of the simile, which are connected by one of the following link words: "like", "as", "as though", "as if", "as like", "such as", "as ... as", etc.

She is like a rose.

He stood immovable like a rock in a torrent. (J.Reed)

His muscles are hard as rock. (T.Capote)

The conversation she began behaved like green logs: they fumed but would not fire. (T.Capote)

Source: V.A.K.

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characterisation of one object by bringing it into contact with another object belonging to an entirely different class of things

- excludes all the properties of the two objects except one which is made common to them;

- forcibly set one object against another regardless of the fact that they may be completely alien to each other;

Maidens, like moths, are ever caught by glare. (Byron)

Other words live but a short time and are like bubbles on the surface of water - they disappear leaving no trace of their existence. (I.R.G)

His mind was restless, but it worked perversely and thoughts jerked through his brain like the misfirings of a defective carburettor. (S.Maugham)

It was that moment of the year when the countryside seems to faint from its own loveliness, from the intoxication of tis scents and sounds. (J.Galsworthy)

Source: I.R.G.

Compare: logical comparison

See: metaphor, epic simile or Homeric simile, lexico-syntactical SDs