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It is a figure in which a likeness between two different things is stated in an explicit way.

The simile says Bain consists in the formal or avowed comparison of one thing to another It explains Martin consists of placing two different things side by side and comparing them with regard to some features common to both.

Interpretation

Simile is the formal and explicit statement of likeness or similar relationship observed in different objects and actions It will be easier for us to understand the significance of the above with the help of an example In I wandered lonely as a cloud we observe three things

(a)

A comparison between two different objects (I and cloud) is made;

(b)

The comparison is made explicit with the help of a word of comparison as and

(c)

There is a point of comparison a common feature enabling two dissimilar things to be compared and the point of comparison here is a lonely state which is common both to I (I e Wordsworth ) and the cloud It is to be remembered that while points (a) and (b) are indispensable for a simile point (c) is not For example had Wordsworth simply written I wandered as a cloud it's claim as a simile could not have been contested It should again be noted that the comparison should not be trite but striking yet free from obscurity.

The chief features of a simile are given below :

(i)
One thing is likened to another.

(ii) 
The things are different in nature.

(iii) 
The likeness between them is clearly expressed with a word of comparison such as like so such as etc.

Illustrations :

(a)

The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold. (Byron). This is a simile In a simile a comparison between two different objects is made and their likeness is stated in a clear way.Here a comparison is made between two different objects (Assyrian and wolf) and it made explicit with the use of a word of comparison like.

(b) 

When the evening is spread out against the sky. Like a patient etherized upon a table. (T. S. Eliot) This is a simile. In this figure an explicit comparison is made between two different things. Here a comparison between two different things (evening and patient ) is made in an explicit way (with the help of the word like )

( c)

Her eyes as stars of twilight fair; Like twilight s too her dusky hair. The is a simile.
In this figure a thing is likened to another in an explicit way. Here we find two sets of comparison (eyes stars and hair twilight) their points of comparison being fair and dusky stars respectively.Their comparison has been made explicit with as in the first instance and like in the next.

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