12) climax. The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...See synonyms at summit. 2a. A series of statements or ideas in an ascending order of rhetorical force or intensity. b. The final statement in such a series. 3a. A...

13) clause. The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...in a document. Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin clausa, close of a rhetorical period, from feminine of Latin clausus, past participle of claudere,...

14) anacoluthon. The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...within a sentence to a second construction inconsistent with the first, sometimes used for rhetorical effect; for example, I warned him that if he continues to drink,...

15) diction. The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...Middle English diccion, a saying, word, from Old French, from Latin dictio, diction-, rhetorical delivery, from dictus, past participle of dcere, to say, speak. See...

16) declaim. The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...rhetoric or elocution. 2. To speak loudly and vehemently; inveigh. To utter or recite with rhetorical effect. Middle English declamen, from Latin dclmre : d-, intensive...

17) understate. The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...by the facts. 2. To express with restraint or lack of emphasis, especially ironically or for rhetorical effect. 3. To state (a quantity, for example) that is too...

18) irony. The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...and intended meaning. c. A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect. See synonyms at wit1. 2a. Incongruity between what might be...

19) meiosis. The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...to haploid, leading to the production of gametes in animals and spores in plants. 2. Rhetorical understatement. Greek meiosis, diminution, from meioun, to diminish,...

20) figure of speech. The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
...anaphora or chiasmus, or that employs sounds, such as alliteration or assonance, to achieve a rhetorical effect....