It is a metaphor in the literal meaning of the word metaphor (i.e. it's a word that "carries many" meanings). To me, prose is a metaphor if it deliberately pla

It is a metaphor in the literal meaning of the word metaphor (i.e. it's a word that "carries many" meanings). To me, prose is a metaphor if it deliberately plays with the double-meaning, or uses it as an analogy to explain an example. "I killed the process" isn't a metaphor to me. "I killed the process, but its life wasn't too exciting anyway, it was just a spin-lock" would be a metaphor. "The server's dropping packets": no metaphor. "The server's dropping packets, and it's made a mess all over the client's carpeting.": metaphor, kinda pushing the utility, though. If you go with the single-word definition, and care at all for etymology, almost everything is a metaphor. It's kind of fun to go on those adventures. Most of the words we use to describe cognition are metaphors for physical activities. "Understand", "Comprehend", "Grasp".