Catachresis

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Catachresis \Cat`a*chre"sis\, n. [L. fr. Gr. ? misuse, fr. ? to
     misuse; kata` against + ? to use.] (Rhet.)
     A figure by which one word is wrongly put for another, or by
     which a word is wrested from its true signification; as, "To
     take arms against a sea of troubles". --Shak. "Her voice was
     but the shadow of a sound." --Young.


     [1913 Webster] Catachrestic

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  catachresis
       n : strained or paradoxical use of words either in error (as
           `blatant' to mean `flagrant') or deliberately (as in a
           mixed metaphor: `blind mouths')