Single-Word Metaphors
A new use for old verbs.
The Prose Style series
This topic arose from my Analysis series where I’m currently working my way through All the Pretty Horses. In the most recent entry, The Third Pretty Horse Bolted in the Rain, I mentioned how McCarthy forged a simile from a single verb choice.
…they passed a stand of roadside cholla against which small birds had been driven by the storm and there impaled. Gray nameless birds espaliered in attitudes of stillborn flight or hanging loosely in their feathers. Some of them were still alive and they twisted on their spines as the horses passed and raised their heads and cried out but the horsemen rode on.
To espalier is to train a tree or shrub to grow flat against a wall, and it’s as if the wind trained these birds to grow against the cactus, frozen in a dead mimicry of flight.
Let’s talk about single-word metaphors.
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Now let’s talk about verbs.
“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
— Mark Twain
The reasoning for the verb metaphor isn’t always the image it creates so much as it justifies the unusual use of an otherwise specific verb. It has the capacity to create word combinations never made before, as is most likely the case with McCarthy’s example. If the verb we use is recognizable enough, that increases the importance of the image it carries, but in many cases the image is a bonus, something picked up on a second reading or a quick pause to search up the meaning.1
Scull: To propel a boat with a single oar at the stern, moving it back and forth.
Knurl: To create a textured or ridged surface, often on metal tools for grip.
Macerate: To soften or break down something, typically food or flesh, by soaking it in a liquid.
Plash: To cause water to splash gently, often describing the sound of a light disturbance in water.
Gambol: To skip or leap playfully, like a lamb or child.
For the verb as metaphor to work, the word needs to be associated with a very specific context and used outside of that context, the word would be meaningless without the metaphor its usual usage implies.
The flag gamboled in the wind.
Uncertainty plashed within the current of his thoughts.
The group’s affections macerated his will.
Treat the verb like a metaphor, being careful not to mix your images.
See what other essays I have to offer:
Obscure Verbs
Purl: To flow with a gentle murmur, often describing water in a stream.
Flense: To strip the skin or blubber from a carcass, often used in whaling.
Fettle: To repair or make ready; typically used in the context of preparing machinery or tools.
If you’re going to use an obscure verb, make it interesting. Give the reader something fun in the sound of it, giving it value even if they don’t bother to look it up.
The prisoner sat, shaken, his alibi flensed, leaving him open and bare before each accusation.
Give the word enough context, and we get the general meaning without having to look it up, but if we know what it means (or if we Google it), we get another layer of rich meaning.
Lost Metaphors
Verbs we use regularly may have once had this quality, but no longer.
Harrow: To painfully disturb or distress; originally refers to a farm tool used for breaking up soil.
It’s not that harrow isn’t a perfectly good word. It’s not overused or cliche, but its original meaning no longer comes to mind. If we use it to mean a character distress, that’s all it means. However, potential remains if we use it outside of that context, applying the verb to an inanimate object other than soil, for example.
He harrowed the evidence, turning the facts over in his mind, leaving a trail of scattered papers in his wake.
In this case, I tried to use both meanings, where the detective is turning over facts as one would the soil but he’s also physically disturbing the box of evidence, scattering the documents.
Discovering Verb Metaphors
While verb metaphors can occur on their own or be meticulously planned with obsessive consideration of your verbs, I recommend to simply keep the possibility in mind as you consider your similes.
If I write:—fear ran up her spine like a bird trilling to his mate—I’ll notice that my simile’s verb is strongly associated with its image. I can try rewriting the sentence so that the verb alone carries the image:—fear trilled up her spine.
Tack: To change the direction of a sailing vessel by turning the bow into the wind.
Slough: To shed or cast off, as in a snake shedding its skin.
Thrum: To make a continuous humming or vibrating sound, often describing machinery or strings.
Pinion: To bind or restrain someone, typically their arms.
Ruck: To crease or fold, typically referring to fabric or material.
If the verb is well known, this becomes a tool of brevity, but many of our examples weren’t brief. Even with “harrowed”, it required additional phrases to clarify the meaning, but creating interesting and powerful sentences is more often the point.
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— Thaddeus Thomas
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As a Gen X man trying to use Gen Z teminology, I’m left feeling old. Gen Y do I bother?
Love obscure words — I have a list of ones I’ve encountered, and now these verbs are in there. Also this form of simile is great, cutting back on the ‘like’ form and tightening up the prose👌
Ooh! This is yet another “I have done this, but unconsciously and erratically, and now I have understanding of the concept I am excited to revisit it properly”.
Particularly because I love metaphorical imagery so being able to dodge adding another “like” is invaluable. 😄