Definition of: synecdoche

(si·nek′də·kē) noun
A figure of speech in which a part is put for a whole or a whole for a part, an individual for a class, or a material for the thing, as a roof for a house, marble for a statue. [<LL <Gk. Synekdochē <synekdechesthai take something with something else <syn- together + ekdechesthai take from <ek- from + dechesthai take]
—syn·ec·doch·ic (sin′ek·dok′ik), syn′ec·doch′i·cal adjective