1. (noun) a metaphor that has occurred so often that it has become a new meaning of the expression (e.g., he is a snake' may once have been a metaphor but after years of use it has died and become a new sense of the word snake')

• dead metaphor

1. (noun) a metaphor that has occurred so often that it has become a new meaning of the expression (e.g., he is a snake' may once have been a metaphor but after years of use it has died and become a new sense of the word snake')

• metaphor