Idioms or figures of speech are combination of words whose meaning cannot be determined by examination of the meanings of the words that make it up. Or, to put it another way, an idiom uses a number of words to represent a single object, person or concept. Unless you recognize when an idiom is being used you can easily misunderstand the meaning of a text.

Figures of Comparison
Simile – The likening of one thing to another (usually translated using the English words “like” or “as”.

Metaphor – An implied comparison between two objects without the use of “like” or “as”.

Idioms of Overstatement
Hyperbole – An exaggeration to make or reinforce a point.

Hendiadys – The combination of two or three things to express the same meaning.

Idioms of Understatement
Irony – Stating one thing while meaning the exact opposite. When used to taunt and ridicule irony is called sarcasm.

Litotes or Meiosis – A phrase that understates or lessens one thing in order to magnify another.

Euphemism – The substitution of a cultured or less offensive term for a harsh one.

Antithesis – A direct contrast in which two sets if figures are set in opposition to one another.

Idioms Involving Omission
Ellipsis – A grammatically incomplete expression that requires the reader to add concepts in order to finish the thought. Most of there omissions are already supplied by the translators of our Bibles.
Idioms of Association or Relationship
Metonymy – The substitution of a noun for another closely associated noun. The substituted noun derives its meaning in the context its is used by the association produced in the readers mind.

Synecdoche – A figure of speech in which the part stands for the whole or the whole for the part.

Eponymy – is a sub-division of synecdoche in which an individual stands for the whole nation.

Merismus – is a combination of parts of the whole to express totality.

Idioms Stressing the Personal Dimension
Personification – The representation of an object or concept as if it were a person.

Apostrophe – A development of personification in which the writer addresses the object or concept that he has personified.