List of metonyms

The following is a list of common metonyms.[n 1] A metonym is a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept. For instance, "Westminster", a borough of London in the United Kingdom, could be used as a metonym for the country's government.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Objects

Word or phrase	Original / literal use	Metonymic use
bar	The bar in a courtroom that separates judges and lawyers from laypeople	All the lawyers licensed to practice law in a certain court or jurisdiction[1]
bench	The location in a courtroom where a judge sits when presiding over a court	All the judges of a court or jurisdiction; members of a judiciary; the presiding officer (judge) in a court[2]
boots on the ground	Footwear worn by soldiers	Combat troops deployed in a geographic area (as opposed to those awaiting deployment and/or in aircraft or ships offshore)[3]
brass	A metal alloy (used for or in the manufacture of e.g. buttons, insignia and a family of musical instruments)	Military and police officers[4], often also referring to managers/bosses outside the uniformed
china	The country China	Chinese porcelain or other types of ceramic[4]
city hall	A city's chief administrative building	Local government or, more pejoratively, government in general[2] Most common use is in the adage "You can't fight city hall"
crown / Crown	A type of monarchical headwear	Monarchy, especially the British monarchy (as "The Crown")[5]
dish	An item of crockery	(The foundation of) a course – usually the main course – of a meal[6]
gun	A firearm	An assassin, mercenary or soldier (as in "hired gun")[7]
lead	A heavy metal used to manufacture ammunition	Bullets[8]
mortal	Subject to death	Human[9]
pink slip	A discharge notice (historically, a pink coloured slip of paper in an employee's pay envelope)	A layoff or termination of employment[10]
red tape	Tape that is coloured red	An over-bureaucratic process[11]
suits	Business attire (plural)	Business executives and lawyers[7]
sweat	Perspiration	Hard (physical) work[12]
tongue	Oral muscle	A language or dialect[13]

Places

Word or phrase	Original / literal use	Metonymic use
10 Downing Street ("Number 10")	The official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom[n 2]	The Prime Minister and his/her staff[14], often meaning more broadly the UK Government
Armonk	Armonk, New York, where the headquarters of IBM is located	IBM[15]
Bay Street	A street in downtown Toronto	The Canadian financial sector, since the Toronto Stock Exchange, the country's main securities market, and the headquarters of the five major Canadian banks, are located there[16]
Beijing	The capital of China	The Chinese government, particularly the leadership[17]
The Beehive	A building that houses the executive wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings	The New Zealand Government
Beverly Hills	Beverly Hills, California, a rich enclave of Los Angeles	Rich and famous people[18]
Broadway	A street in Manhattan, New York City	Broadway theatre; sometimes, although less accurately, commercial American theatre in general[4]
Brussels	The capital of Belgium	The government of the European Union[19]
Buckingham Palace or the Palace	A large building in London that is the official residence of the reigning British sovereign	The British royal family and its staff[20]
The City	The City of London, the part of Central London, England, that has the longest contiguous recorded history	The financial (and related) institutions in the United kingdom[21]
Canberra	Canberra, the capital city of Australia	The Australian federal government and its Departments and general bureaucracy, as in "Canberra said... "
Capitol Hill or the Hill	A neighborhood in Washington, D.C.	The United States Congress[22]
Casa Rosada	The executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina	The government of Argentina
Chernobyl	A city in Ukraine, located north of Kiev	The nuclear disaster in the city on 26 April 1986[23]
Cooperstown	A village in upstate New York	The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Cooperstown, New York[24]
Dalal Street	The address of the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai.	The financial markets in India, the third largest economy in Asia.
Detroit	The largest city in Michigan	The American automobile industry[25]
Europe	A continent located in the Northern, Eastern and Western hemispheres	Commonly used to refer to the European Union, a political and economic union, especially in political contexts
Fifth Avenue	A street in the New York City borough of Manhattan	The upscale retailers that are generally located along it[26]
The fifth floor	The floor of a building above the fourth floor	The Mayor of Chicago and his or her staff, since their offices are on that floor of city hall[27]
Fleet Street	A street in the City of London	The British national press[28]
Foggy Bottom	A neighborhood in Washington, D.C.	The United States Department of State[29]
Fukushima	A city in Japan	The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster[30]
The Hague	A city in the Netherlands	The International Criminal Court or International Court of Justice, both of which have their seat in the city.[31][32]
Hillsborough	Hillsborough an area of Sheffield, United Kingdom and location of Hillsborough Stadium.	The Hillsborough disaster in 1989 where 96 Liverpool F.C. fans died in a human crush. Also used as a word for police corruption and cover-up.[33]
Hiroshima and Nagasaki	Two cities in southwestern Japan	The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Allied forces in August 1945[30]
Hollywood	A district of Los Angeles, California	The American film industry[4]
Holyrood	An area in Edinburgh	The Scottish Parliament, which is located in that area, or more generally the Scottish Government[34]
Hongdae	Hongik University in Seoul, South Korea	Hongdae, a cultural/tourist neighborhood of Seoul surrounding Hongik University
Houston	A city in Texas	NASA's Johnson Space Center, its Mission Control Center within, or NASA in general (from the call sign used by astronauts to contact Mission Control)[35]
Hrad ("The Castle")	The Prague Castle and official residence and office of the President of the Czech Republic	The President of the Czech Republic and his or her staff, and also the Czech Republic as a whole[36]
Ikulu	The official residence of the President of Tanzania	The State House and its administration[37]
Itamaraty	Itamaraty Palace in Brasília, headquarters of the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil.	The Brazilian ministry of Foreign Affairs and its diplomats[38]
Jonestown	A remote settlement established by the Peoples Temple cult in northwestern Guyana	The massacre which occurred on 18 November 1978 in which 918 people died.[39]
K Street	A street in downtown Washington, D.C.	The American lobbying industry[40]
Kastilja or Castile	Auberge de Castille, an 18th-century auberge in the Maltese capital Valletta	The Office of the Prime Minister of Malta[41]
The Kremlin	A historic type of Russian fortress or citadel	The Moscow Kremlin and/or the Russian presidential administration; historically, any Russian or Soviet government[42]
Langley	A small suburb of Washington, D.C., in Virginia	The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency[43]
Lutyens Zone	The key central political and residential district of New Delhi, the capital of the world's largest democracy, India.	The epicentre of political wheeling-dealing in India, and also the most elite, and leafiest, residential zone.
M25	A motorway circling the London conurbation	London, or the Greater London urban area, though the two boundaries do not precisely coincide.[44][45]
Madison Avenue	A street in Manhattan, New York City	The American advertising industry[4]
Main Street	The principal street of a town, traditionally the site of shops, banks, and other businesses	Local businesses or the "middle class" generally[46]
Malacañang	The official residence of the President of The Philippines.	The Philippine President and his advisers.
Nashville	The capital of the U.S. state Tennessee	The country music industry[4]
The Old Bailey	A street in the City of London.[47]	The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales.
Ottawa	The capital city of Canada	The Government of Canada
Pearl Harbor	The natural harbor on the coast of Oahu island, Hawaii	The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan on 7 December 1941[4]
Pyongyang	The capital and economic center of North Korea	The North Korean government leadership, often as a totalitarian regime
The Pentagon	A pentagonal building in Arlington County, Virginia	The United States Department of Defense (whose headquarters is housed by the Pentagon building)[48]
The Phanar	Phanar is a quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, where is located the Patriarchate of Constantinople and where used to lived many Greeks after the Ottoman conquest.	The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Queen's Park	An urban park in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada	The Ontario Legislative Building (which is located within the park) and/or the provincial government of Ontario.[49]
Quai d'Orsay	A wharf and adjoining street in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France	The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, which is located at 37 Quai d'Orsay[50]
Raisina Hill	The low hill in New Delhi where the most the key government ministries, including the PM's Office, and the presidential palace Rashtrapati Bhawan stand, within the Lutyens Zone.	The epicentre of political power in India.
Sand Hill Road	A street in Menlo Park, California	The venture capital firms that fund startups in the American high-tech industry.[51]
Savile Row	A short street in central London	The high-quality bespoke men's suits made by tailors' shops on the street[52]
Schengen	A village in eastern Luxembourg	The Schengen treaty of freedom of movement in Europe, a borderless international border
Scotland Yard	Name given to the original public entrance (via "Great Scotland Yard") to the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police Service	London or British police, especially detectives[53]
Selma	Selma, Alabama	The U.S. civil rights movement or backlash against the movement[54]
Seventh Avenue	A street in the New York City borough of Manhattan	The American fashion industry[55]
Silicon Valley	San Jose and its suburbs on the southwest side of San Francisco Bay	The American high-tech industry[56]
Spring Street	A street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)	The Parliament and Government of Victoria (and, when used pejoratively, its bureaucracy)[57]
Stormont	An estate in County Down, east of Belfast	The Northern Ireland Assembly[58]
Sublime Porte	A gate giving access to a block of government buildings in Istanbul, Turkey	The Imperial Government of the Ottoman Empire (sometimes, more specifically, its foreign policies and relations)[59]
Tamminiemi	A villa in Helsinki and a former official residence of the President of Finland	Historically the President of Finland, mostly associated with Urho Kekkonen[60]
Tehran	The capital of Iran	The Government of Iran; the Iranian government or its leadership
Threadneedle Street	A street in the City of London	The Bank of England and/or its directors[61]
Tin Pan Alley	A block along 28th Street in Manhattan	The American popular music industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries[62]
Timbuktu	An ancient city located in landlocked Mali in Western Africa	A far away location or of extreme isolation.
The Vatican	A small sovereign state surrounded by Rome, Italy	The Holy See, and the Roman Catholic Church in general[63]
Wall Street	A street in Manhattan, New York City	The American financial markets[4] or "big business" more generally[46]
Washington	Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States	The federal government of the United States[1] or established career politicians[64]
Watergate	The Watergate Hotel and Office Building in Washington, D.C.	The political scandal exposed after a burglary at the Watergate Hotel,[4]
Westminster	A part of Central London, England	The Parliament of the United Kingdom[65]
West Wing	The western wing of the White House where the offices and meeting rooms of the President, Vice-President, Cabinet and senior officials are located.	The President of the United States or senior White House officials.
Whitehall	A street in the City of Westminster borough of London	The Civil Service of the United Kingdom, or more generally the Government of the United Kingdom; the term is often used in a similar context to "Westminster" (above)[65][66]
The White House	The official residence of the President of the United States	The Executive Office of the President of the United States (the President of the United States and their staff)[1]
Zhongnanhai	A former imperial garden adjacent to an eponymous lake in central Beijing, now used as residences	The leadership of the Chinese government[67]
Zion	A mountain located in Israel	The city of Jerusalem or the people associated with it[68]

Notes

1. Since metonymy – the process by which metonyms are formed – is a productive process, new metonyms can always be created. This list cannot include all metonyms, but only some of those that are identified as common.
2. Technically, 10 Downing Street is the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, not the Prime Minister. However, the two offices have been held by the same person since the early 20th century.

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