From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfigure of speechˌfigure of ˈspeech noun [countable] ALa word or expression that is used in a different way from the normal meaning, to give you a picture in your mind
Examples from the Corpus
figure of speech• But how could you begin to verify the fact of reincarnation, except as a figure of speech?• He said he used the phrase as a figure of speech, and did not mean to imply she was a coward.• And this, Marcy Lupino knew, was not a figure of speech.• A: It was a figure of speech, sir.• The word means an obscure figure of speech.• I found this word in the dictionary meant an obscure figure of speech. 