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Definition of "metaphorical extension" []

  • A noun meaning the process as the language changes over time in linguistics wherein the meaning of or part of the sense of a word which was used as a portion of a popularized metaphorical phrase is transferred back to and subsequently becomes one of the accepted general meanings of the original word used in the phrase . (Example mouse, in computing from computer mouse, an input device which possessed a metaphorical tail.) (noun)
  • The part of the definition of a word which has undergone a such meaning change. (noun)

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