Leaves flew like scared birds.

Meaning: The leaves were moving quickly through the air, like scared birds.

Choice of Words: Leaves are the green parts of trees. Flew means to move quickly through the air. Scared means feeling afraid. Birds are animals with feathers and wings. When we put them together, it's like the leaves were moving quickly through the air, like scared birds.

Alternative Expressions

Leaves danced in the wind like ballerinas.

Meaning: This sentence is describing how the leaves were moving. It's like saying, The leaves were moving gracefully and rhythmically in the wind, which made me think of ballerinas dancing.

Choice of Words: Leaves are the green parts of plants that grow on branches. Danced means to move gracefully and rhythmically. In is used to show where something is located. The is used to refer to a specific thing. Wind is the movement of air. Like is used to compare two things. Ballerinas are female dancers who wear tutus and dance on their toes. When you put them together, "Leaves danced in the wind like ballerinas" means that the leaves were moving gracefully and rhythmically in the wind, which made the writer think of ballerinas dancing.

Leaves swirled through the air like autumn confetti.

Meaning: This sentence is describing how the leaves were moving. It's like saying, The leaves were moving around in a circular motion in the air, which made me think of autumn confetti being thrown in the air.

Choice of Words: Leaves are the green parts of plants that grow on branches. Swirled means to move around in a circular motion. Through is used to show movement from one place to another. The is used to refer to a specific thing. Air is the movement of air. Like is used to compare two things. Autumn is the season that comes after summer and before winter. Confetti is small pieces of colored paper that are thrown in the air at celebrations. When you put them together, "Leaves swirled through the air like autumn confetti" means that the leaves were moving around in a circular motion in the air, which made the writer think of autumn confetti being thrown in the air.

Related Expressions