Catachresis (kat-a-kree’-sis): The use of a word in a context that differs from its proper application. This figure is generally considered a vice; however, Quintilian defends its use as a way by which one adapts existing terms to applications where a proper term does not exist.
The blizzard poured buckets of snow.
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Definition courtesy of “Silva Rhetoricae” (rhetoric.byu.edu).
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