What is "metalepsis"

Metalepsis \Met`a*lep"sis\, n.; pl. Metalepses. [L., fr. Gr. ? participation, alteration, fr. ? to partake, to take in exchange; ? beyond + ? to take.] (Rhet.) The continuation of a trope in one word through a succession of significations, or the union of two or more tropes of a different kind in one word.

n. (context rhetoric English) A rhetorical device whereby one word is metonymically substituted for another word which is itself a metonym; more broadly, a metaphor consisting of a series of embedded metonyms or rhetorical substitutions.

n. substituting metonymy of one figurative sense for another

Metalepsis (from ) is a figure of speech in which a word or a phrase from figurative speech is used in a new context.