39+ Extended Metaphor Examples: Detailed Explanations

In this article, we will list down 40+ extended metaphor examples and have a detailed discussion on each, to have a clear definition of the subject.

An extended metaphor is a metaphor that is used as an extension used across multiple lines, stanzas, and paragraphs, of English literature, which we will learn from 40+ sentences using extended metaphor examples.

1. Stretch your wings of hope.
2. It is time to come out of your parent’s shadows.
3. Life is not a bed of roses.
4. Truth can be thorny.
5. She displayed a cold behavior.
6. This is a hot topic to discuss.
7. Driving this car is a breeze.
8. He ran at a lightning speed.
9. Old is gold.
10. He is a sly fox.
11. The work is progressing at a snail speed.
12. He was born with a silver spoon.
13. Do not miss the golden opportunity.
14. Enough! Now cough out!
15. It is time to go green.
16. Turn on the yellow pages.
17. He has an iron leg.
18. My dreams were so far, a caged bird.
19. Sail through life.
20. We will tide over.
21. She turned pale out of fear.
22. They have too many skeletons in the cupboards.
23. The country has turned into a valley of ashes.
24. Paint the city red.
25. I am feeling blue these days.
26. He was acting cool.
27. The job is grinding me down.
28. I think, he just chickened out.
29. It makes me feel grounded.
30. Why are you draining down your money on this?
31. The bus was jampacked.
32. He was a sleeping partner in my business.
33. The maid cooked up a nice story.
34. Curiosity was killing me.
35. That opened a new door for the freshers.
36. Just chill.
37. Ignite the spark in you.
38. Chances of his recovery are slim.
39. He visits his parents once in a blue moon.
40. Paint the walls with blasting colors.
41. He is a man of his words.

Extended Metaphor Definition

An extended metaphor is a metaphor that starts with the first line and extends throughout the entire piece of literature, like in a paragraph, a prose, or in a poem. Extended metaphors help in constructing a styled write-up or framing a rhyming quatrain or a rondel.

Another most common ways of using extended metaphors is to include it in terms of implications drawn from a base metaphor, so that they can be repeatedly mentioned, referred, used, discovered, emphasized, and re-implemented in different ways.

We need to remember the difference between metaphors and extended metaphors before we proceed with the explanations of the extended metaphor examples. A metaphor is a literary device that is used to compare and equate two different things figuratively, while an extended metaphor is a metaphor again that extends across multiple lines, recurs in many paragraphs of a piece of prose, or in the stanzas of a poetry.

Extended Metaphors Explained

Take a look at the following 40+ extended metaphor examples to have a clear understanding of the subject. We need to remember that all these metaphors need to recur multiple times in a piece of literature or poetry to become good extended metaphor examples.

Stretch your wings of hope.

Here wings is the metaphor for hopes, and it needs to be repeated several times in a piece of literary work, to be cited as one of the good extended metaphor examples.

It is time to come out of your parent’s shadows.

In this sentence, the word ‘shadows’ is used in the metaphorical sense comparing with the overbearing care of the parents.

Life is not a bed of roses.

The phrase ‘bed of roses’ is compared with the path of life. Hence, the said phrase can make one of the most frequently given extended metaphor examples.

Truth can be thorny.

When we say ‘thorny’, it actually means painful. So, the word ‘thorny’ is cited here as one of the extended metaphor examples.

She displayed a cold behavior.

Among all extended metaphor examples, we can take the word ‘cold’ as the most common one, as it denotes an indifferent behavior.

This is a hot topic to discuss.

Hot is used here as a metaphor to describe a popular topic. From this sentence, we get to learn one of the best extended metaphor examples.

Driving this car is a breeze.

Breeze is used here as a metaphor to depict a nice feeling.

He ran at a lightning speed.

Speed is described with the metaphor lightening.

Old is gold.

Gold is used as a metaphor to describe the higher value of anything that is old.

He is a sly fox.

The phrase ‘sly fox’ stands here as an example of extended metaphor to depict the cunning nature of the subject.

The work is progressing at a snail speed.

The word ‘Snail’ is used to describe the slow progress of the work.

He was born with a silver spoon.

‘Silver spoon’ stands here as a symbol of wealth and richness.

Do not miss the golden opportunity.

The word ‘golden’ is used here to express the rareness of the opportunity.

Enough! Now cough out!

The phrase ‘cough out’ is metaphorically used here to indicate speak up.

It is time to go green.

‘Go Green’ is a widely used metaphor to symbolize doing environment friendly work.

Turn on the yellow pages.

The phrase ‘yellow pages’ stands here for the authentic sources of information.

She has an iron leg.

The word ‘iron’ is used here stands for bringing bad luck.

My dreams were so far, a caged bird.

The phrase ‘caged bird’ stands here to depict restrictions implemented.

Sail through life.

From this sentence, we get to learn one of the best extended metaphor examples, as the word ‘sailing’ is used as a metaphor to describe smooth progress.

We will tide over.

‘Tide over’ is a common expression we use metaphorically to depict recovery from a challenging situation.

She turned pale out of fear.

Turning pale is a metaphorical expression of fear.

They have too many skeletons in the cupboards.

‘Skeleton in the cupboards’ is a metaphor used to describe family secrets.

The country has turned into a valley of ashes.

From this sentence, we get to learn one of the best extended metaphor examples.

Paint the city red.

Here red stands for the vibrance, as a metaphorical expression.

I am feeling blue these days.

Feeling not so well is described as‘blue’, standing as one of the best extended metaphor examples.

He was acting cool.

A relaxed behavior is depicted through the metaphorical word ‘cool’.

The job is grinding me down.

Grinding stands here as one of the extended metaphor examples to depict extreme harshness.

I think, he just chickened out.

Chickened out is a metaphor used to describe fleeing away.

It makes me feel grounded.

To replace the phrase ‘feeling stable’, the metaphor ‘grounded’ is used to create one of the goodextended metaphor examples.

Why are you draining down your money on this?

Draining away stands here for spending money in a flow, as one of the extended metaphor examples.

The bus was jampacked.

The word ‘jampacked’ refers to a place which is overcrowded.

He was a sleeping partner in my business.

Sleeping partner refers to a partner who doesn’t have any active participation in a business.

The maid cooked up a nice story.

Cooking up story actually means telling lies. It is a good extended metaphor example shown here.

Curiosity was killing me.

Here ‘killing me’ is an expression done through metaphorical usage of words, which means an unbearable condition.

That opened a new door for the freshers.

Opening new doors is a metaphorical phrase used to denote new opportunities.

Just chill.

Chill is considered as one of the best extended metaphor examples that is given to indicate ‘calming down’.

Ignite the spark in you.

The phrase ‘ignite the Spark’ refers here as invoking a talent or an exciting factor, in the subject.

Chances of his recovery are slim.

The word ‘slim’ is used here to depict ‘less’, as a metaphor.

He visits his parents once in a blue moon.

The common phrase ‘once in a blue moon’ depicts extreme rarity.

Paint the walls with blasting colors.

‘Blasting colors’ is used to give a good extended metaphor example, since it represents the phrase bright colors.

He is a man of his words.

In this sentence, the subject is described as a man who keeps his promises.

Wrap up:

All these examples of metaphors can be used only when they will be used extensively and widely in the piece of literary work, one is working upon.