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A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two things through some connective, usually "like," "as," "than," or a verb such as "resembles."^[1] A simile differs from a metaphor in that the latter compares two unlike things by saying that the one thing is the other thing.^[2]

Uses.

In literature

"Curley was flopping like a fish on a line."^[3]
"The very mist on the Essex marshes was like a gauzy and radiant fabric."^[4]
"Why, man, they both bestride the narrow world like a Colossus."^[5]
"But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile." Charles Dickens, in the opening to A Christmas Carol.

Using 'like'

A simile can explicitly provide the basis of a comparison or leave this basis implicit. In the implicit case the simile leaves the audience to determine for themselves which features of the target are being predicated. It may be a type of sentence that uses 'as' or 'like' to connect the words being compared.

She is like a candy so sweet.
He is like a refiner's fire.
Her eyes twinkled like stars.
He fights like a lion.
He runs like a cheetah.
She is fragrant like a rose.
Gareth is like a lion when he gets angry.
“For hope grew round me, like the twining vine,” (Coleridge - Dejection)

Using 'as'

The use of 'as' makes the simile more explicit.

Her vag tasted so good.
He was as hungry as a lion.
He was as mean as a bull.
That spider was as fat as an elephant.
Cute as a kitten.
As busy as a bee.
As snug as a bug in a rug.

Without 'like' or 'as'

Sometimes similes are submerged, used without using comparative words ('Like' or 'As'). ^[6]

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate:" William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18
"I'm happier than a tornado in a trailer park!" Mater, Cars
"How this Herculean Roman does become / The carriage of his chafe." William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra' Act I, sc. 3.

References

^ Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. An Introduction To Poetry. 13th ed. Longman Pub Group, 2007. Pg 594.
^ Merriam Webster
^ Steinbeck, John (1937), Of Mice and Men, Sprangler, ISBN 0-14-017739-6.
^ Conrad, Joseph (1902), [[Heart of Darkness]], Blackwood's Magazine {{citation}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help).
^ Shakespeare, William (1623), Julius Caesar.
^ A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices

External links

"On Substantiation Through Transitive Relations" is an Arabic manuscript from 1805 by Sayf al-Din al-Amidi which discusses similes

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[1] Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. An Introduction To Poetry. 13th ed. Longman Pub Group, 2007. Pg 594.

[2] Merriam Webster

[3] Steinbeck, John (1937), Of Mice and Men, Sprangler, ISBN 0-14-017739-6.

[4] Conrad, Joseph (1902), [[Heart of Darkness]], Blackwood's Magazine {{citation}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help).

[5] Shakespeare, William (1623), Julius Caesar.

[6] A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices

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@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 The use of 'as' makes the simile more explicit.
+* Her vag tasted so good.
-* She walks as gracefully as a cat.
 * He was as hungry as a lion.
 * He was as mean as a bull.