Definition of "trope" []

• A figure of speech using words in nonliteral ways, such as a metaphor. (noun)
• A word or phrase interpolated as an embellishment in the sung parts of certain medieval liturgies. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "While we doubt that use of the term trope has actually scared off would-be adherents of trope-theory, it cannot hurt to have an accurate, suggestive, single descriptive expression for tropes of given degrees."
• "Likewise, this trope is an easy way to examine geneder roles without having to necessarily do as much heavy lifting."
• "Drawn from the Greek tropein, to turn, the trope is a perversion, a breaking of rules, a seduction of language from its proper course."