Synecdoche refers to the practice of using a part of something to stand in for the whole thing. Two common examples from slang are the use of wheels to refer to an automobile (“she showed off her new wheels”) or threads to refer to clothing.

What are some examples of synecdoche?

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which, most often, a part of something is used to refer to its whole. For example, "The captain commands one hundred sails" is a synecdoche that uses "sails" to refer to ships—ships being the thing of which a sail is a part.

What is the best example of synecdoche?

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase that refers to a part of something is substituted to stand in for the whole, or vice versa. For example, the phrase “all hands on deck” is a demand for all of the crew to help, yet the word “hands”—just a part of the crew—stands in for the whole crew.