An Exaptive metaphor is a figurative expression that repurposes a term or image originally evolved for one function to serve a new, often unexpected poetic or conceptual role—borrowing the biological concept of exaptation (where a trait gains a function not shaped by natural selection); in poetry, this might involve using technological, scientific, or mundane vocabulary in lyrical or spiritual contexts (e.g., describing love as “a firewall” or grief as “a corrupted file”), thereby generating cognitive dissonance, innovation, or cultural critique by forcing disparate semantic fields into productive collision, expanding metaphor’s capacity to reflect contemporary experience.

Metaphor repurposing linguistic/biological feature for new function. From evolutionary "exaptation." Complex concept. Related: dead metaphor revival, linguistic innovation. Advanced poetic technique.