Synecdoche
A figure where the part stands for the whole, or the whole for the part.
Synecdoche is the figure in which a part is used to refer to the whole ('all hands on deck' for 'all sailors'), or the whole for a part ('the world celebrated' for a subset of it). It belongs to the same family as metonymy and is often discussed alongside it.
Synecdoche makes language vivid by replacing a general noun with a concrete image. 'Wheels' for 'car', 'mouths to feed' for 'dependents', 'boots on the ground' for 'soldiers' — each substitution gives the listener something to picture.
Like all rhetorical compression, it carries an editorial choice. To call soldiers 'boots on the ground' is to choose what the listener thinks about; the boots are not innocent.
“All hands on deck.”
Keep reading the glossary
Calling something by the name of an associated thing — 'the crown' for 'the monarchy'.
A figure of speech that describes one thing as if it were another.
The art of persuasive speaking and writing — the discipline behind every great quoted line.
Aristotle's three modes of persuasion — character, emotion, and reason.