| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| hyperbole |
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| SYLLABICATION: | hy·per·bo·le |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  h -pûr b -l |
| NOUN: | A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Latin hyperbol, from Greek huperbol, excess, from huperballein, to exceed : huper, beyond; see hyper– + ballein, to throw; see gwel- in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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