Twain's lively writing contains many examples of figures of speech; that is, he uses words in an unusual and imaginative way to give vivid pictures. The simile is one figure of speech that compares one thing to another, using the words like or as. When Twain writes, "His underjaw would stick out like the fo'castle of a steamboat," he is using a simile. Familiar expressions such as "as cool as a cucumber," "spread like wildfire," and "cross as a bear" are all similes.
