| word | original meaning | metonymic use | ||
| General | ||||
| damages | destructive effects | money paid in compensation | ||
|
| a promise (to give/keep/break one's word); a conversation (to have a word with) | ||
| sweat | perspiration | hard work | ||
| tongue | oral muscle | a language or dialect | ||
| aggregation, assembly | coming together | result of coming together; those who come together | ||
| city hall | a city's chief administrative building | city government or government in general (Common usage in axiom, "You can't fight city hall.") | ||
| dish | an item of crockery | a course (in dining) | ||
| jigsaw | cutting tool | jigsaw puzzle | ||
| militia | military or defense activity | those engaged in or subject to being required to engage in defense activity | ||
| service | doing for others | those who serve (especially military) | ||
| American | ||||
| Washington | capital of the United States | the United States federal government | ||
| The White House | Official residence of the President of the United States | the President and staff | ||
| Wall Street | a street in Lower Manhattan, New York City | the United States financial and banking industry | ||
| Broadway | an avenue running the length of Manhattan Island in New York City | Broadway theatre in particular, and American theatre in general | ||
| The Pentagon | the office building in Arlington, Virginia that serves as the headquarters of the US Defense Department | the US Defense Department, the US Secretary of Defense and high-ranking military officials based there | ||
| Capitol Hill | The neighborhood in which the United States Capitol is located | the United States Congress | ||
| Madison Avenue | a street in New York City | the United States advertising industry | ||
| Seventh Avenue | a street in New York City | the United States fashion industry | ||
| Cupertino | a city in the state of California | Apple Inc., which is headquartered there | ||
| Detroit | largest city in the state of Michigan | the United States automobile industry, which is centered in the Detroit area | ||
| Houston | largest city in the state of Texas | NASA Mission Control, from the phrase "Houston, we've had a problem" | ||
| Cape Canaveral | a geographic feature in the state of Florida near the… | NASA Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station | ||
| the people | human beings, or a specific group thereof | some state governments in criminal prosecution matters, e.g., "People (of the State of Michigan) versus X", as opposed to "State (of Ohio) versus Y" | ||
| British | ||||
| England | a country within the United Kingdom | the United Kingdom as a whole | ||
| The Crown | a monarch's headwear | the British monarchy | ||
| The Palace | Buckingham Palace | The monarch's office | ||
| New Scotland Yard | a London building, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police | Metropolitan Police | ||
| The City | the City of London | the British financial markets, historically centred in The City | ||
| Westminster | the City of Westminster in London | The Parliament of the United Kingdom , or the UK Government, which is located there | ||
| Thames House | Headquarters of… | the British Security Services | ||
| Whitehall | a street in the City of Westminster, the headquarters of the British Civil Service and various Governmental Departments | the offices of the British government's senior bureaucrats; the British Civil service or a Government Department | ||
| Fleet Street | a street in London | the British press, particularly newspapers, or the British newspaper industry | ||
| Downing Street or "Number 10" | Official residence of the Prime Minister[1] | the British Prime Minister and his or her staff | ||
| Vauxhall Cross | Headquarters of… | the Secret Intelligence Service (aka MI6) | ||
| Canadian | ||||
| the Crown | The monarch | Usually used in court as the federal or provincial government as in "The crown Versus …" | ||
| Ottawa | the capital of Canada | the Canadian federal government | ||
| European | ||||
| Brussels | the capital city of Belgium, also home to most of the… | Institutions of the European Union | ||
| the Kremlin | A fortified complex in Moscow | Formerly the Soviet government; used today to a lesser extent for the Russian government | ||
| Gulag | chief administration of the Soviet forced labour camps | the prison camps it administered | ||
| any country's capital city | the country's capital | that country's government in general, and often, as the whole country itself | ||
| Toompea | A limestone hill in Tallinn, Estonia | The Government and Parliament of Estonia | ||
1. Technically, 10 Downing Street is the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, not the Prime Minister. However, the two offices have been held by the same person since the early 20th century.