Hyperbole is a rhetorical exaggeration. Hyperbole goes beyond the literal truth in order to make a statement more impressive or piquant. It must be used sparingly. The following example will give a better idea of hyperbole thar would be accomplished by an extended discussion.
Tired to death.
Swift as lightning.
Waves running mountain high.
A tongue that should move the stones of Rome
The rescued land
Sent up a shout of victory from the field,
That rocked her ancient mountains.
Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty raen
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonorable graves.
In 1896 the apple crop of Central New York was so abundant that apples grew on scrub oaks and wire fences, is an instance of colloquial hyperbole.
