syllepsis noun. [sɪ'lɛpsɪs] Pl. syllepses [-i:z]. LME.
[Late Latin from Greek sullēpsis taking together, formed as SYN- + lēpsis taking.]
Grammar & Rhetoric. A figure of speech in which a word, or a particular form or inflection of a word, is made to cover two or more functions in the same sentence whilst agreeing grammatically with only one (e.g. a sing. verb serving as predicate to two subjects, sing. and pl.), or is made to apply to two words in different senses (e.g. literal and metaphorical). Cf. ZEUGMA.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲