metaphor: a direct comparison between two dissimilar things

"His words were sharp knives."

implied metaphor: a metaphor in which the thing to which the object is being compared is suggested, not stated. In the example below the person is compared to a train.

"He grabbed the ball, gathered steam and chugged toward the goal."

simile: a comparison using like, as, or than as a connective device.

"Jamie's team moved up the basketball court like a unified flock of sparrows moving through the forest." 

hyperbole: overstatement, a comparison using conscious exaggeration.

"He shot the puck so hard it caught the goalie’s mitt on fire."

understatement: the opposite of hyperbole

allusion: metaphor making direct comparison to a historical or literary event or character, a myth, a biblical reference, etc.

"He is a Sampson of strength but a Thomas of faith."

metonymy: use of the name of a related object to stand for the thing actually being talked about.

"The press anxiously waited outside the back door." (Journalists)

synecdoche: use of a part for the whole, or vice-versa

"The crowned heads of Europe were in attendance."

personification: giving human characteristics to nonhuman things or to abstractions.

"The ocean cursed and spat at us."

apostrophe: a variety of personification in which a nonhuman thing, abstraction, or person not physically present is directly addressed as if it could respond.

"Time! Why can’t I reclaim what you have taken?"

paradox: an apparent contradiction or illogical statement.

"I’ll never forget old what’s his name."

oxymoron: a short paradox, usually consisting of an adjective and noun with conflicting meanings.

"The touch of her lips was sweet agony."

synesthesia: a conscious mixing of two different types of sensory experience.

"A raw, red wind rushed from the north."