1. Simile
* Definition: A comparison using "like" or "as."
* Example: The child's laughter was like the chiming of bells.
2. Metaphor
* Definition: A direct comparison stating one thing *is* another.
* Example: The teacher was a lion in the classroom.
3. Personification
* Definition: Giving human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.
* Example: The wind whispered secrets through the trees.
4. Hyperbole
* Definition: Exaggeration for emphasis.
* Example: I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!
5. Understatement
* Definition: Deliberately downplaying something for effect.
* Example: "It's a bit chilly outside," she said, shivering in her thin coat.
6. Oxymoron
* Definition: Combining contradictory terms.
* Example: Deafening silence
7. Alliteration
* Definition: Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
* Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
8. Assonance
* Definition: Repetition of vowel sounds within words.
* Example: The sea shells seemed to sing a song.
9. Onomatopoeia
* Definition: Words that imitate sounds.
* Example: The buzz of the bee, the splash of the water.
10. Irony
* Definition: A contrast between what is said or expected and what is actually true.
* Example: A fire station burning down.
Note: There are many other figures of speech, but these are some of the most common and recognizable.