Is this a simile? "he looks over us as if taking inventory". If not, what is it?

Answer 1

Men check out women to see if their curves and features produce a sizable emotional response. That brain process takes longer and is more obvious than an intellectual thought, but is required to see if there is any interest. I think women do it too, but in a different more subtle way.

Answer 2

A simile is a direct, expressed comparison between two things essentially unlike each other, but resembling each other in at least one way.
There is no simile in the comparison, "My car is like your car," because the two objects are not "essentially unlike" each other. in this sentence: However in this sentence "He is as cunning as a fox" , the word "as" is a good clue which hints that this sentence could be a simile.
We are comparing someone to a fox and we are saying they are both cunning. Therefore, this is an example of a simile

Answer 3

I think a simile is a comparison of two unlike things using like or as...
also, i don't think this is a simile, because you are comparing his look to taking inventory, i don't think that these two things are unlike, or things... taking inventory is not a noun.

Answer 4

No because the two differ in application. One can look over without taking an inventory

Answer 5

I, too, would call it a metaphor; but I am also wondering about the quote itself. What is the context?

I think "looks over us" can be interpreted two ways:
1) he looks above us - his mind is occupied with some inventory or other.
2) he looks us over - he is looking directly at us and mentally inventorying us.

Just curious, so please excuse the cerebral peregrinations.

Answer 6

It's a metaphor..

"a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity "

Meaning, he's not literally taking inventory, but its being used to envoke the sensation of similarity between his actions and taking inventory. hope that helps.

Answer 7

I don't think so. It's describing how "he looks over us" Personally, I think it's fine. Some editor type might think it borders on redundency especially if the writer has a habit of writing other sentences like this in this story.

Answer 8

similes can be identified by the use of the words "like" or "as" to make a comparison.

e.g. soft "as" silk
hard "as" a rock