# List of metonyms

The following is a list of common metonyms. 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.

## 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 practise law in a certain court or jurisdiction |
| bed | Furniture used for sleeping or reclining | Sexual relations between individuals |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| box office | A place where tickets are sold, in this example, for movies. | A term to describe how well a film is doing. "The film is a hit at the box office." |
| 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, often also referring to managers/bosses outside the uniformed |
| bullpen | The area of a baseball field used by relief pitchers to warm up for a game | A baseball team's roster of relief pitchers |
| cap | White silk hats given to players each time they played for the England national football team | A player's appearance in a game at the international level |
| china | The country China | Chinese porcelain or other types of ceramic |
| city hall | A city's chief administrative building | Local government or, more pejoratively, government in general |
| corner office | An office on a building corner with more windows | Corporate leadership, or the Governor of Massachusetts (see below) |
| crown / Crown | A type of monarchical headwear | Monarchy, especially the British monarchy (as "The Crown") |
| dish | An item used for serving food | A course of a meal, or the foundation of a course (usually the main course) |
| gun | A firearm | An assassin, mercenary or soldier (as in "hired gun") |
| lead | A heavy metal used to manufacture ammunition | Bullets |
| mortal | Subject to death | Human |
| pink slip | A discharge notice (historically, a pink coloured slip of paper in an employee's pay envelope) | A layoff or termination of employment |
| press | A machine used to print newspapers | Journalists, reporters, or others who write or announce the news |
| record label | The circular label in the center of a vinyl record displaying the manufacturer's name | A music company involved in producing, marketing, and distributing music recordings and music videos |
| red tape | Tape that is coloured red | An over-bureaucratic process |
| shovels in the ground | Digging in the soil using a variety of tools or machines | Commencement of a construction project – usually one that is major or infrastructural |
| slate | a writing tablet made of slate | a written record of a debt, particularly in a small shop or public house |
| suits | Business attire (plural) | Business executives and lawyers |
| sweat | Perspiration | Hard (physical) work |
| tongue | Oral muscle | A language or dialect |

## Places
### Africa

| Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
| Ikulu | The official residence of the president of Tanzania | The State House and its administration |

### Asia

| Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
| Bangalore | A city in Southern India | The Indian technology industry |
| Beijing | The capital of China | The Chinese government, particularly the leadership |
| Fukushima | A city in Japan | The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster |
| Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Two cities in southwestern Japan | The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Allied forces in August 1945 |
| Malacañang | Official Residence of the President of the Philippines | The Philippine Government, particularly the President, the Cabinet and his advisers, and the officials under Office of the President of the Philippines. |
| Raisina Hill | A Hill in Lutyens' Delhi, New Delhi | The seat of the Government of India |
| Zhongnanhai | A former imperial garden adjacent to an eponymous lake in central Beijing, now used as residences | The leadership of the Chinese government |
| Zion | A mountain located in Israel | The city of Jerusalem or the people associated with it |

### Europe

| Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
| 10 Downing Street ("Number 10") | The official residence of the prime minister of the United Kingdom | The prime minister and his/her staff, often meaning more broadly the UK Government |
| Brussels | The capital of Belgium | The government of the European Union |
| 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 |
| The City | The City of London, the part of Central London, England, that has the longest continuous recorded history | The financial (and related) institutions in the United Kingdom |
| Davos | A town in Switzerland | The World Economic Forum |
| Fleet Street | A street in the City of London | The British national press |
| 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 |
| Hillsborough | Hillsborough an area of Sheffield, United Kingdom and location of Hillsborough Stadium. | The Hillsborough disaster in 1989 where 97 Liverpool F.C. fans died in a human crush. Also used as a word for police corruption and cover-up. |
| Holyrood | An area in Edinburgh | The Scottish Parliament, which is located in that area, or more generally the Scottish Government |
| Horse Guards | A cavalry barracks at Whitehall, London | Commander-in-chief of the British army and his staff before 1857 |
| 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 |
| Kastilja or Castile | Auberge de Castille, an 18th-century auberge in the Maltese capital Valletta | The Office of the Prime Minister of Malta |
| 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 (e.g. Kremlinology) |
| M25 | A motorway circling the London conurbation | London, or the Greater London urban area, though the two boundaries do not precisely coincide |
| North of Watford | Watford Gap, a low point in a hill range used as a divide between North and South England | The North of England |
| 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 |
| Savile Row | A short street in central London | The high-quality bespoke men's suits made by tailors' shops on the street |
| Scotland Yard | The original public entrance (via "Great Scotland Yard") to the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police Service | London or British police, especially detectives |
| Stormont | An estate in County Down, east of Belfast | The Northern Ireland Assembly |
| 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) |
| 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 |
| Threadneedle Street | A street in the City of London | The Bank of England and/or its directors |
| The Vatican | A small sovereign state located in Rome, Italy | The Holy See, and the Roman Catholic Church in general |
| Westminster | A part of Central London, England | The Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| 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) |

### North America

| Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
| Armonk | Armonk, New York, where the headquarters of IBM is located | IBM |
| Bay Street | A street in downtown Toronto | The Canadian financial sector, since the Toronto Stock Exchange, and the headquarters of the five major Canadian banks, are located there |
| Beacon Hill | A neighborhood in Boston | The state government of Massachusetts |
| Beverly Hills | Beverly Hills, California, a rich enclave of Los Angeles | Rich and famous people |
| Broadway | A street in Manhattan, New York City | Broadway theatre; sometimes, although less accurately, commercial American theatre in general |
| Capitol Hill or the Hill | A neighborhood in Washington, D.C. | The United States Congress |
| Cooperstown | A village in upstate New York | The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Cooperstown, New York |
| Columbine | An unincorporated community in Colorado | The Columbine High School massacre, or school shootings generally |
| Corner office | An office on a building corner with more windows | Corporate leadership (see above) or the office of the Governor of Massachusetts in the Massachusetts State House |
| Cupertino | A city in California | Apple Inc., whose headquarters are located there |
| Detroit | The largest city in Michigan | The American automobile industry |
| Fifth Avenue | A street in Manhattan, New York City | The upscale retailers that are generally located along it |
| 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 |
| Foggy Bottom | A neighborhood in Washington, D.C. | The United States Department of State |
| Hollywood | A district of Los Angeles, California | The American film industry |
| 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) |
| K Street | A street in downtown Washington, D.C. | The American lobbying industry |
| Langley | A small suburb of Washington, D.C., in Virginia | The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency |
| Madison Avenue | A street in Manhattan, New York City | The American advertising industry |
| Main Street | Shopping street of a town, traditionally the site of shops, banks, and local businesses | Local businesses or the "middle class" generally |
| Menlo Park | A city in California | Facebook (now Meta), whose headquarters are located there |
| Mountain View | A city in California | Google, whose headquarters are located there |
| Nashville | The capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee | The country music industry |
| Ottawa | The capital 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 |
| Redmond | A town near Seattle, Washington | Microsoft, whose headquarters are located there |
| The Pentagon | A pentagonal building in Arlington County, Virginia | The United States Department of Defense (whose headquarters is housed by the Pentagon building) |
| 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 |
| Sand Hill Road | A street in Menlo Park, California | The venture capital firms that fund startups in the American high-tech industry |
| Sandy Hook | An elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut | The mass shooting at the school on 14 December 2012 |
| Selma | Selma, Alabama | The U.S. civil rights movement or backlash against the movement |
| Seventh Avenue | A street in Manhattan, New York City | The American fashion industry |
| Silicon Valley | San Jose and its suburbs on the southwest side of San Francisco Bay | The American high-tech industry |
| Tin Pan Alley | A block along 28th Street in Manhattan | The American popular music industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries |
| Wall Street | A street in Manhattan, New York City | The American financial markets or "big business" more generally |
| Washington | Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States | The federal government of the United States |
| Watergate | The Watergate Hotel and Office Building in Washington, D.C. | The political scandal exposed after a burglary at the Watergate Hotel |
| 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 staff) |

### South America

| Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
| Itamaraty | Itamaraty Palace in Brasília, former headquarters of the Ministry of External Relations of Brazil. | The Brazilian ministry of Foreign Affairs and its diplomats |
| 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 |

### Oceania

| Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
| (The) Beehive | Headquarters of the government of New Zealand | New Zealand government leadership |
| The Bombay Hills | A range of hills south of Auckland | The cultural, social, and political division between Auckland and the rest of New Zealand |
| Canberra | The capital of Australia | The Government of Australia |
| Macquarie Street | The central business district of the capital of New South Wales | The Government of New South Wales |
| Spring Street | The central business district of the capital of Victoria | The Government of Victoria |

## Numbers

| Word or phrase | Original / literal use | Metonymic use |
| 9/11 | The date September 11 (in American date format) | The September 11 attacks |