Paronomasia

2 definitions found

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

  Paronomasia \Par`o*no*ma"si*a\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to form
     a word by a slight change; para` beside + ? to name, fr.
     'o`noma a name.] (Rhet.)
     A play upon words; a figure by which the same word is used in
     different senses, or words similar in sound are set in
     opposition to each other, so as to give antithetical force to


     the sentence; punning. --Dryden.
     [1913 Webster] Paronomastic

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  paronomasia
       n : a humorous play on words; "I do it for the pun of it"; "his
           constant punning irritated her" [syn: {pun}, {punning}, {wordplay}]