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The following is a list of common metonyms.[n 1] A metonym is a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept. For instance, "Westminster", a borough of London in the United Kingdom, could be used as a metonym for the country's government.
Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
---|---|---|
bar | The bar in a courtroom that separates judges and lawyers from laypeople | All the lawyers licensed to practise law in a certain court or jurisdiction[1] |
bench | The location in a courtroom where a judge sits when presiding over a court | All the judges of a court or jurisdiction; members of a judiciary; the presiding officer (judge) in a court[2] |
boots on the ground | Footwear worn by soldiers | Combat troops deployed in a geographic area (as opposed to those awaiting deployment and/or in aircraft or ships offshore)[3] |
box office | A place where tickets are sold, in this example, for movies. | A term to describe how well a film is doing. "The film is a hit at the box office."[citation needed] |
brass | A metal alloy (used for or in the manufacture of e.g. buttons, insignia and a family of musical instruments) | Military and police officers,[4] often also referring to managers/bosses outside the uniformed[citation needed] |
bullpen | The area of a baseball field used by relief pitchers to warm up for a game | A baseball team's roster of relief pitchers[5] |
cap | White silk hats given to players each time they played for the England national football team | A player's appearance in a game at the international level[6] |
china | The country China | Chinese porcelain or other types of ceramic[4] |
city hall | A city's chief administrative building | Local government or, more pejoratively, government in general[2] |
corner office | An office on a building corner with more windows | Corporate leadership,[7] or the Governor of Massachusetts (see below)[8] |
crown / Crown | A type of monarchical headwear | Monarchy, especially the British monarchy (as "The Crown")[9] |
dish | An item used for serving food | A course of a meal, or the foundation of a course (usually the main course)[10] |
gun | A firearm | An assassin, mercenary or soldier (as in "hired gun")[11] |
lead | A heavy metal used to manufacture ammunition | Bullets[12] |
mortal | Subject to death | Human[13] |
pink slip | A discharge notice (historically, a pink coloured slip of paper in an employee's pay envelope) | A layoff or termination of employment[14] |
press | A machine used to print newspapers | Journalists, reporters, or others who write or announce the news |
record label | The circular label in the center of a vinyl record displaying the manufacturer's name | A music company involved in producing, marketing, and distributing music recordings and music videos[15] |
red tape | Tape that is coloured red | An over-bureaucratic process[16] |
shovels in the ground | Digging in the soil using a variety of tools or machines | Commencement of a construction project – usually one that is major or infrastructural[17] |
suits | Business attire (plural) | Business executives and lawyers[11] |
sweat | Perspiration | Hard (physical) work[18] |
tongue | Oral muscle | A language or dialect[19] |
Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
---|---|---|
Ikulu | The official residence of the president of Tanzania | The State House and its administration[20] |
Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
---|---|---|
Bangalore | A city in Southern India | The Indian technology industry[21] |
Beijing | The capital of China | The Chinese government, particularly the leadership[22] |
Fukushima | A city in Japan | The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster[23] |
Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Two cities in southwestern Japan | The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Allied forces in August 1945[23] |
Malacañang | Official Residence of the President of the Philippines | The Philippine Government, particularly the President, the Cabinet and his advisers, and the officials under Office of the President of the Philippines. |
Raisina Hill | A Hill in Lutyens' Delhi, New Delhi | The seat of the Government of India[24] |
Zhongnanhai | A former imperial garden adjacent to an eponymous lake in central Beijing, now used as residences | The leadership of the Chinese government[25] |
Zion | A mountain located in Israel | The city of Jerusalem or the people associated with it[26] |
Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
---|---|---|
10 Downing Street ("Number 10") |
The official residence of the prime minister of the United Kingdom[n 2] | The prime minister and his/her staff,[27] often meaning more broadly the UK Government |
Brussels | The capital of Belgium | The government of the European Union[28] |
Buckingham Palace or the Palace | A large building in London that is the official residence of the reigning British sovereign | The British royal family and its staff[29] |
The City | The City of London, the part of Central London, England, that has the longest continuous recorded history | The financial (and related) institutions in the United Kingdom[30] |
Fleet Street | A street in the City of London | The British national press[31] |
The Hague | A city in the Netherlands | The International Criminal Court or International Court of Justice, both of which have their seat in the city[32][33] |
Hillsborough | Hillsborough an area of Sheffield, United Kingdom and location of Hillsborough Stadium. | The Hillsborough disaster in 1989 where 97 Liverpool F.C. fans died in a human crush. Also used as a word for police corruption and cover-up.[34] |
Holyrood | An area in Edinburgh | The Scottish Parliament, which is located in that area, or more generally the Scottish Government[35] |
Horse Guards | A cavalry barracks at Whitehall, London | Commander-in-chief of the British army and his staff before 1857[36] |
Hrad ("The Castle") | The Prague Castle and official residence and office of the president of the Czech Republic | The president of the Czech Republic and his or her staff, and also the Czech Republic as a whole[37] |
Kastilja or Castile | Auberge de Castille, an 18th-century auberge in the Maltese capital Valletta | The Office of the Prime Minister of Malta[38] |
The Kremlin | A historic type of Russian fortress or citadel | The Moscow Kremlin and/or the Russian presidential administration; historically, any Russian or Soviet government (e.g. Kremlinology)[39] |
M25 | A motorway circling the London conurbation | London, or the Greater London urban area, though the two boundaries do not precisely coincide[40][41] |
North of Watford | Watford Gap, a low point in a hill range used as a divide between North and South England | The North of England[42] |
Quai d'Orsay | A wharf and adjoining street in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France | The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, which is located at 37 Quai d'Orsay[43] |
Savile Row | A short street in central London | The high-quality bespoke men's suits made by tailors' shops on the street[44] |
Scotland Yard | The original public entrance (via "Great Scotland Yard") to the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police Service | London or British police, especially detectives[45] |
Stormont | An estate in County Down, east of Belfast | The Northern Ireland Assembly[46] |
Sublime Porte | A gate giving access to a block of government buildings in Istanbul, Turkey | The Imperial Government of the Ottoman Empire (sometimes, more specifically, its foreign policies and relations)[47] |
Tamminiemi | A villa in Helsinki and a former official residence of the president of Finland | Historically the president of Finland, mostly associated with Urho Kekkonen[48] |
Threadneedle Street | A street in the City of London | The Bank of England and/or its directors[49] |
The Vatican | A small sovereign state located in Rome, Italy | The Holy See, and the Roman Catholic Church in general[50] |
Westminster | A part of Central London, England | The Parliament of the United Kingdom[51] |
Whitehall | A street in the City of Westminster borough of London | The Civil Service of the United Kingdom, or more generally the Government of the United Kingdom; the term is often used in a similar context to "Westminster" (above)[51][52] |
Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
---|---|---|
Armonk | Armonk, New York, where the headquarters of IBM is located | IBM[53] |
Bay Street | A street in downtown Toronto | The Canadian financial sector, since the Toronto Stock Exchange, and the headquarters of the five major Canadian banks, are located there[54] |
Beacon Hill | A neighborhood in Boston | The state government of Massachusetts[55][verification needed] |
Beverly Hills | Beverly Hills, California, a rich enclave of Los Angeles | Rich and famous people[56] |
Broadway | A street in Manhattan, New York City | Broadway theatre; sometimes, although less accurately, commercial American theatre in general[4] |
Capitol Hill or the Hill | A neighborhood in Washington, D.C. | The United States Congress[57] |
Cooperstown | A village in upstate New York | The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Cooperstown, New York[58] |
Columbine | An unincorporated community in Colorado | The Columbine High School massacre, or school shootings generally |
Corner office | An office on a building corner with more windows | Corporate leadership (see above)[7] or the office of the Governor of Massachusetts in the Massachusetts State House[8] |
Detroit | The largest city in Michigan | The American automobile industry[59] |
Fifth Avenue | A street in Manhattan, New York City | The upscale retailers that are generally located along it[60] |
The fifth floor | The floor of a building above the fourth floor | The Mayor of Chicago and his or her staff, since their offices are on that floor of city hall[61] |
Foggy Bottom | A neighborhood in Washington, D.C. | The United States Department of State[62] |
Hollywood | A district of Los Angeles, California | The American film industry[4] |
Houston | A city in Texas | NASA's Johnson Space Center, its Mission Control Center within, or NASA in general (from the call sign used by astronauts to contact Mission Control)[63] |
K Street | A street in downtown Washington, D.C. | The American lobbying industry[64] |
Langley | A small suburb of Washington, D.C., in Virginia | The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency[65] |
Madison Avenue | A street in Manhattan, New York City | The American advertising industry[4][66] |
Main Street | Shopping street of a town, traditionally the site of shops, banks, and local businesses | Local businesses or the "middle class" generally[67][68] |
Montlake | A neighborhood in Seattle, which gives its name to a section of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, a bridge over the canal, and a section of a major road in the area. | The Washington Huskies, the sports teams of the University of Washington, whose major facilities are in the vicinity of the aforementioned road (though not in the Montlake neighborhood).[69][70][71] |
Nashville | The capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee | The country music industry[4] |
Ottawa | The capital of Canada | The Government of Canada[citation needed] |
Pearl Harbor | The natural harbor on the coast of Oahu island, Hawaii | The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on 7 December 1941[4] |
The Pentagon | A pentagonal building in Arlington County, Virginia | The United States Department of Defense (whose headquarters is housed by the Pentagon building)[72] |
Queen's Park | An urban park in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada | The Ontario Legislative Building (which is located within the park) and/or the provincial government of Ontario[73] |
Sand Hill Road | A street in Menlo Park, California | The venture capital firms that fund startups in the American high-tech industry[74] |
Sandy Hook | An elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut | The mass shooting at the school on 14 December 2012[75] |
Selma | Selma, Alabama | The U.S. civil rights movement or backlash against the movement[76] |
Seventh Avenue | A street in Manhattan, New York City | The American fashion industry[77] |
Silicon Valley | San Jose and its suburbs on the southwest side of San Francisco Bay | The American high-tech industry[78] |
Tin Pan Alley | A block along 28th Street in Manhattan | The American popular music industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries[79] |
Wall Street | A street in Manhattan, New York City | The American financial markets[4] or "big business" more generally[67] |
Washington | Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States | The federal government of the United States[1] |
Watergate | The Watergate Hotel and Office Building in Washington, D.C. | The political scandal exposed after a burglary at the Watergate Hotel[4] |
The White House | The official residence of the president of the United States | The Executive Office of the President of the United States (the president of the United States and staff)[1] |
Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
---|---|---|
Itamaraty | Itamaraty Palace in Brasília, former headquarters of the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil. | The Brazilian ministry of Foreign Affairs and its diplomats[80] |
Jonestown | A remote settlement established by the Peoples Temple cult in northwestern Guyana | The massacre which occurred on 18 November 1978 in which 918 people died[81] |
Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
---|---|---|
Canberra | The capital of Australia | The Government of Australia[82] |
Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
---|---|---|
9/11 | The date September 11 (in American date format) | The September 11 attacks[75] |
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