A metaphor is a rhetorical figure of speech that compares two subjects without the use of “like” or “as.”
Metaphor is often confused with simile, which compares two subjects by connecting them with “like” or “as” (for example: “She’s fit as a fiddle”). While a simile states that one thing is like another, a metaphor asserts that one thing is the other, or is a substitute for the other thing.