Merriam –Webster Dictionary definition

met·a·phor
noun \ˈme-tə-ˌfȯr also -fər\
: a word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing in order to show
or suggest that they are similar

: an object, activity, or idea that is used as a symbol of something else

The role of metaphors

The general purpose of metaphor is to state relationships
between things or categories of objects by using our ideas
about these items. The explanatory power of metaphor lies
in that its use allows us to present our ideas about a little
known category in a language appropriate to some other,
and presumably, better understood category.
Metaphors direct thinking in a particular way, bringing in
useful associations from other contexts, but also concealing
other factors. Metaphor is one of the many devices
available to the scientific community to accomplish the task
of accomodation of language to the causal structure of the
world. - the task of introducing terminology, and modifying
usage of existing terminology, so that linguistic categories
are available which describe the causally and explanatorily
significant features of the world. - This is the task of
arranging our language so that our linguistic categories cut
the world at its jointsapply appropriate punctuation and so
on.
Analytically, metaphors concern the study of figurative
signs, but also raise the more fundamental question of
whether 'literal' meaning is possible at all.
A leading advocate of using metaphors to assist the
understanding of organizations has been Gareth Morgan:
Metaphor is often just regarded as a device for embellishing
discourse, but its significance is much greater than this. For
the use of metaphor implies a way of thinking and a way of
seeing that pervade how we understand our world generally.
It is easy to see how this kind of thinking has a relevance for
understanding organization and management. For
organizations are complex and paradoxical phenomena that
can be understood in many different ways. Many of our taken-
for-granted ideas about organizations are metaphorical, even
though we may not recognize them as such.
G. Morgan, Images of Organization, (1986).
Kendal and Kendal (1992) consider how metaphors are
actually used in the organizational domain with regard to
the Informaton Systems Development process.
From extensive interviews they extracted nine metaphors
of organization which they believed to represent common
threads in their empirical data.
These conceive the process of system development as a:
journey, game or war
and the organization itself as a
machine, organism, society, family, zoo or jungle.

SOURCE:
http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~rstephen/courses/UQC833hm/week5/metaphor.html

Metaphor
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely
players
They have their exits and their entrances
William Shakespeare
A metaphor is a figure of speech that says that one thing is
another different thing. This allows us to use fewer words and
forces the reader or listener to find the similarities.

The word metaphor comes from the Greek

word metapherin (meaning "transfer").

The simplest form of metaphor is: "The [first thing] is a [second

thing]."

Look at this example:

 Her home was a prison.

In the above sentence, we understand immediately that her home

had some of the characteristics of a prison. Mainly, we imagine,
she could not leave her home. She was trapped inside. Why it was
a prison we do not know, but that would be clear from the context-
-perhaps her husband forced her to stay at home, perhaps she
was afraid of the outside. We don't know, but the rest of the story
would tell us. What is important here is that in five simple words
we understand a lot about her environment, how she felt and how
she behaved. In this sentence, "prison" is a metaphor.

Look at another example:

 George is a sheep.

What is one characteristic of sheep? They follow each other. So we

can imagine that George is a follower, not a leader. In this
sentence "sheep" is a metaphor.

Metaphors are very common in everyday language. But poets also

like to use metaphors. In the following famous verse (from The
Highwayman by Alfred Noyes), can you spot three metaphors in
the first three lines?

The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,

The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding--
Riding--riding--
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.

Look at these examples of metaphors with sample sentences and

meanings:

Metaphor
Metaphorical sense Original sense
example
I'm not an angel, exemplary person a spiritual being
but I wouldn't believed to be a
behave like that. messenger of God
America is place where different a container in which
amelting pot. peoples, styles and metals or other
cultures are mixed materials are melted
together and mixed
John is a greedy person a four-legged animal
real pigwhen he kept for meat (pork)
eats.
My father is very strong or reliable a hard, mineral
a rock. person material made of
stone
How could she traitor a long, limbless reptile
marry a snake like (eg: cobra, python,
that! viper)
The policeman let warning (in soccer) a yellow
him off with card that the referee
ayellow card. shows to players when
cautioning them

All the above metaphors (the simplest form) are nouns. But there
are other ways of making metaphors, for example with verbs or
adjectives. Here are some examples:

Original sense of the word

Metaphor example
(example)
The committee shot her Anti-aircraft guns shoot down
ideas down one by one. planes.
The private detective dug Dogs like to bury bones and
up enough evidence to convince
the police to act.
He broke into her conversation.
The new movie was very popular.
Peopleflocked to see it.
His head was spinning with ideas.
Reading that book kindled my
interest in politics.
Tim lost his job after
a heated argument with his boss.
The new car's sexy design
increased sales for the company.
He was dressed rather vulgarly in
a loudchecked suit.
It wasn't long before their
relationship turned sour.
dig them up later.
Burglars break into buildings.
Birds flock together before
they migrate.
Some computer hard drives
spin at over 10,000
revolutions per minute.
You need to start with twigs
and small branches when you
kindle a camp fire.
We have a heated swimming
pool.
Some women think that
lipstick makes them look
sexy.
I can't hear you because the
radio is too loud.
Sour food has an acid taste
like lemon or vinegar.

Difference Between Metaphor and Simile

Both similes and metaphors link one thing to another. A simile
usually uses "as" or "like". A metaphor is a condensed simile, a
shortcut to meaning, which omits "as" or "like." A metaphor
creates a relationship directly and leaves more to the imagination.
With simile A is like B. With metaphor A is B.

simile metaphor
Your eyes are like the sun. You are my sunshine.
He eats like a pig. He is a pig.
He lives like a pig.

Dead Metaphors
In the phrase "to grasp the concept" the physical action "to grasp"
is used as a metaphor for "to understand" (which is non-physical).
But this phrase has been used so often that most English speakers
do not have an image of the physical action in their mind. This
metaphor has died; it is a "dead metaphor".

Mixed Metaphors
The awkward use of two or more different metaphors at the same
time is normally best avoided. It creates conflicting images in the
reader or listener's mind, reduces each metaphor's impact, and
generally causes confusion. Look at this example:

 America is a melting pot where new ideas are kindled.

SOURCE: https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/figures-metaphor.htm